Artists and Arrogance
by PippinIsAwesome
Summary: A Draco Malfoy and Luna Lovegood Love story.
1. Chapter 1

Luna Lovegood was skipping through an empty corridor in Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was humming a tune that she had just created and kept stopping to listen for Wrackspurts. She didn't hear any so she continued skipping. Draco Malfoy watched from behind a statue, rolling his eyes at her. Loony Lovegood was a piece of work that was for sure. He was waiting for Crabbe and Goyle to finish up the trap, he hoped that those blubbering idiots would finish before Loony left the corridor. She stopped again, looking around for some sort of made up creature probably. He grinned, this was just perfect! He saw Crabbe crawling over to him with Goyle following close behind. They both had goofy grins plastered on their faces which he took as a sign that the trap was set up correctly. The three watched as Luna continued to skip into the library. Draco suppressed a laugh as she opened the door, triggering the bucket of Flobberworm mucus to fall. It splattered across her face and robes, and she froze, letting the bucket clatter to the ground beside her.

Draco, Crabbe and Goyle burst out laughing. They had stolen the Flobberworm mucus from Hagrid's hut and set up the trap in less than half an hour. It wasn't his most original prank, but it was hilarious all the same. Loony turned to face them, hearing their laughing. She couldn't see them though, as they were still hiding. Her hands were clenched into fists and she was shaking in anger and humiliation. She wiped Mucus off of her face and it stuck to her hand, Draco laughed harder. The look on her face was priceless; she looked disgusted, angry, embarrassed, upset and hurt all at the same time. He wished he would have brought a camera. Things just kept getting better and better, out of the library came Donec Vruce. Donec was said to be the hottest, most wanted guy in all of Hogwarts, he was even in Luna's year.

Donec paused as he passed Luna and said, "uh... you have something on your... all over you..."

Luna's cheeks glowed and Donec continued walking. Draco smirked, this was too good. Tears began to roll down Luna's face and she glanced around, making sure no one was watching. When she didn't see anyone she sat on the floor and cried. Watching her sit on the floor, crying and covered in Flobberworm mucus tugged at Draco's heart. Crabbe and Goyle continued to quietly laugh their asses off but Draco wasn't laughing anymore. He wondered why, it was defiantly a good prank so why did he feel so... guilty? What was wrong with him? He pranked people all the time and didn't feel the slightest bit guilty but he pranks Loony Lovegood once and all of the sudden he has a conscience? He shook these odd thoughts away and turned to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Come on, you two, let's get out of here," he said.

Crabbe looked at him confused, "aren't you gonna talk to her? Let her know who pulled the prank and make her feel even worse about herself than she already does?"

That was the last thing Draco wanted to do at the moment but he didn't want them to think he'd lost his touch so he nodded as if Crabbe had simply reminded him, "of course."

He stepped out of the shadows, faking an amused smirk. Luna looked up and, realizing she wasn't alone, quickly wiped away the tears. Draco approached her with Crabbe and Goyle falling into place behind him.

"Hello _Looney _Lovegood," he sneered, putting an emphasis on 'Loony'.

"Hello Malfoy, it's a coincidence seeing you here," she said being clueless as usual.

He rolled his eyes, "it's not a coincidence you dolt, I'm here because I did that," he pointed to the mucus that was caught in her dirty-blonde hair.

She reached for her hair impulsively, feeling the gooey substance and looking even more depressed than she was five minutes ago.

"Oh," she said sadly, "well, it was a very good prank but I'd appreciate it greatly if you wouldn't use it anymore."

He tried for a smirk but wasn't sure how real it looked. It was difficult to insult her, she either too nice or too simple-minded to take any offense. He wondered how she ever managed to get into Ravenclaw.

"Of course we won't use it again," he smirked, "we'll use a different prank, if we use the same prank twice, you'll see it coming."

She looked him over, "you're lying," she said calmly, not changing her tone of voice at all, "you're not going to pull another prank on me... I can tell by your eyes."

Draco blinked. She was right, he wasn't planning on pulling a prank on her but now he knew he had too. If he didn't Crabbe and Goyle would think him weak, especially after she called him out.

"Ah, now you're closing off your true feelings so I won't be able to read you anymore," she said looking into his eyes.

How did she know! He had to say something, preferably something clever and insulting. Crabbe and Goyle were starting to look at him funny and he knew he had to get out of here soon before Loony started telling him anything else about himself.

"There's a reason people call you Loony, you know. Maybe you should keep your psychotic thoughts to yourself," he scoffed.

She frowned but didn't say anything else. Draco led his cronies out of the corridor and Luna stayed sitting where she was, thinking about what he'd said. He'd definitely seemed a lot more uncertain about himself that he usually was, she noted. Not wanting to scare away any Wrackspurts, she decided to go take a shower and attempt to cleanse herself of the gooey Flobberworm mucus.


	2. Chapter 2

Luna was on her way to class. She'd washed her hair for hours the previous night but she was still finding odd bits of mucus in her golden locks. It was disgusting. She walked past a suit of armour and noticed that one of her Dirigible Plum earrings was missing. She scanned the empty corridor, to see if she dropped it but didn't see it anywhere. Luna didn't mind being a tad late for class and those earrings were important to her so she retraced her steps looking for the missing earring. She was walking up a staircase, focused solely on the ground when she banged into someone.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," she said, looking up to see who it was.

"Are you looking for something?" Draco asked.

"Actually, yes," she smiled, pointing to her ear with the missing earring, "Have you seen my Dirigible Plum earring anywhere? I seem to have lost it."

He smirked, "really? What a shame, I'm sure Donec Vruce loved your radish earrings."

Luna flushed, hearing the sarcasm in his voice, "and what does he have to do with anything?" She asked. Her voice made her sound angry yet forgiving at the same time; Draco loved it, although he wasn't sure why.

He shrugged still smirking, "I couldn't help but notice how much more embarrassed you were when he showed up... does Loony have a thing for Vruce?"

Luna hands curled into tiny fists, "No, and even if I did, it would be none of your business!"

"Maybe I want it to be my business."

Luna blinked. Malfoy had seemed almost... jealous.

Draco noticed her looking at him and realized that might of come out wrong, "I don't care anyway, so keep your little secret," he said, continuing down the stairs, "oh, and your earring is on the next flight of stairs."

Luna watched him until he was out of sight. _What an odd person_, she thought as she walked up the next flight of stairs to retrieve her Dirigible Plum earring.

By the time she finally made it to class, the period was almost over. She decided to just head to her next class and make up an excuse for why she wasn't at the first one later. Next class was Transfiguration, which just happened to be with the Slytherins. Luna got there early and wasn't too surprised to see Malfoy already leaning against the wall next to the door. They'd both skipped first period so she wasn't overly shocked to see him there already. He nodded to her and she ignored him. They stood like that for quite a long while before Malfoy finally said something.

"So you skipped class just for your earring? I thought you were the goodie-two-shoes type," he sneered.

Luna hand flew to her earring, "these earrings are important," she told him, her voice airy and light as usual, "and who said I was the goodie-two-shoes type?"

"I did, just now. Why are they so important? Can't you make new radish earrings?" He asked.

She looked at him, "why do you care?"

He didn't answer for a while because, truthfully, he didn't know the answer himself. Finally he just said bluntly, "I don't."

"Well, if you don't care then I won't tell you," She said with a slight smile.

Draco tried to just let it go, for his dignity's sake, but now he was curious. He was itching to ask about her damn earrings but he knew if he did she'd know he really did care. He kept quiet until he just couldn't take it anymore and blurted out, "I do care."

Luna looked at him in satisfaction, "I knew it!" She exclaimed happily, "but I'm still not going to tell you."

"What! Why?" He asked, startled.

"Two reasons," She said in that light voice of hers, "one because I don't want you to know and two because not knowing is bugging you."

"You won't tell me because you enjoy bugging me?" He asked incredulously.

She nodded with a slight smile.

Draco couldn't believe that Loony Lovegood would get amusement from bugging people. She laughed at his expression; her delicate laughter sending shivers down his spine.

"Not everything is as it appears, Malfoy," she said mysteriously. He was going to ask her what she meant but students began arriving at the class.

"Malfoy?" He heard the rough voice of Crabbe asked, "What are you doing with _her_?"

He quickly stood up straight, "just warning her that she better watch out, because our next prank is going to be way worse than the first one."

The two idiots started guffawing loudly and he rolled his eyes at them. He gave Luna a menacing stare and marched into the classroom. Luna just shook her head sadly. She walked into the classroom and sat on the opposite side of the room as Malfoy. She couldn't help but wonder why she was sort of upset that Crabbe and Goyle had interrupted them.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Luna didn't eat in the Great Hall. She never ate in the Great Hall; it was too crowded and she never had anyone to sit with. Instead she always would skip down to the kitchens, ask the nice house elves for some breakfast and head out to the lake. There was a nice tree by the lake that she always sat in as she ate, watching the giant squid swim aimlessly around in the water. It was quite peaceful out there. That morning as she sat in her tree, she contemplated talking to Malfoy again. She'd recently found out that he was a different person when he wasn't surrounded by his so-called friends. When it was just the two of them, Malfoy almost seemed nice. Luna took a bite of her toast and wondered if there might have been some Wrackspurts in her ears, making her brain fuzzy, at the time. She could remember everything clearly though, so she couldn't blame Wrackspurts for Malfoy's changed attitude. She finished up her breakfast and headed to class, putting aside thoughts on Malfoy until later.

Harry caught up to her as she passed the Great Hall, "Hey Luna," he said.

"Hello Harry, it's a nice day isn't it?" She replied smiling.

He nodded, then looked back at the Great Hall, "Ron and Hermione were right behind me a second ago..." he said looking puzzled.

Luna just smiled, "well, you better go find them then."

He nodded absentmindedly and walked back to the Great Hall. Luna continued walking to her dormitory to fetch her books but another voice stopped her.

"Hey! Loony! I want a word with you," Malfoy called, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn to him. He grabbed her arm and began pulling her down the corridor. She followed willingly, seeing in his eyes that he wasn't going to hurt her. Malfoy dragged her into a spare classroom and turned to her, dropping her arm.

"Yes?" She asked, smiling slightly.

He looked around suspiciously, double checking all the entrances to make sure no one would hear them. Then for added measure he put a silencing spell on the room. Luna watched him, amused that he was this paranoid about people seeing them together.

"I wanted to talk to you," he said once he finally finished all the protective spells.

Luna raised an eyebrow, "and you couldn't do that in the corridor?"

"There were people there!"

"Ah, I understand, you don't want anyone knowing that you wanted to talk to me."

He didn't look her in the eye when he said, "that sounds worse than it is."

"No, it sounds exactly like what it is, but it's alright not many people want to talk to me... I'm surprised you do, even if you don't want anyone to know."

He cleared his throat, "well... I wanted to ask about your earrings."

Luna giggled, "Nope, I'm not telling!"

Malfoy looked at her with a pleading gaze, "but I've been wondering about them all day! What is so special about them!"

"Trust me, you'd be disappointed by the answer," she assured him, still smiling slightly. She wondered why this was bugging him so much.

"I don't care; I want you to tell me!" He demanded.

Luna looked at him with a knowing smile, "Sorry Malfoy, but you can't get everything you want."

He blinked, "why not? I always get what I want..."

"That's just a better reason to not tell you."

Draco was very frustrated at her, for some reason he really wanted to know the secret behind her earrings and her not telling him was seriously pissing him off, "you know Luna... I meant what I said, that prank I've been promising you is real."

She could see in his eyes that he meant it and before she could respond he stomped off, leaving her to wonder what just happened. She couldn't help but think about what he'd said and even though he had been threatening her, when she thought about it again the thing that stuck out most was he didn't call her Loony... he called her Luna.


	4. Chapter 4

She was sitting in silence, pondering these strange events when Harry, Ron and Hermione burst into the room, wands in hands. She looked at them in surprise and once they saw that Malfoy wasn't in the room anymore they relaxed, Ron and Hermione putting their wands away.

"Hello Harry, Ron, Hermione," she greeted each of them.

"Where is he?" Harry growled his wand still at the ready.

Luna looked at him confused for a moment, "oh, you mean Malfoy; he left a little while ago."

Harry reluctantly put his wand away as well, "we were looking for you, once I found Ron and Hermione," he explained, "someone told us that Malfoy dragged you off to this room."

"So naturally we thought he did something bad to you," Hermione said.

Ron butted in, "_did _he do something bad to you?"

She shook her head, "don't worry, he just wanted to talk."

They looked at her suspiciously, "talk about what?" Harry asked.

Normally she'd tell them, they were the closest thing she had to friends, but she felt like she needed to keep the conversation a secret. That conversation was just for her and Malfoy's ears.

"Different things," she shrugged.

Hermione didn't look convinced, "Luna, you can tell us."

"Well... he might have mentioned a prank," she said truthfully.

Harry swore, "I knew it! I knew he was messing with you! Don't worry Luna, we'll deal with him."

"Wait! Thanks for the offer Harry but I can deal with Malfoy myself," she said, not wanting him to get hurt... what troubled her the most was, she wasn't sure if she was afraid Harry would get hurt or Malfoy.

She could tell Harry was having conflicting emotions; he looked like he wanted to let her handle this on her own but also like he wanted to step up and be the hero.

"Don't worry about me Harry," Luna said softly, "I'll be fine."

He hesitated but nodded and with a parting smile, left the room. Ron and Hermione followed and once again Luna was left alone with her thoughts.

The next few days were uneventful, which meant no more strange meetings with Draco Malfoy. Luna was sitting alone, reading from the Quibbler, when someone approached her. She put the magazine away and motioned for Ginny to sit next to her. Ginny shook her head, hands on her hips, with a determined look on her face. Luna could just tell she was about to be interrogated.

"Harry told me that Malfoy was planning on pranking you," she said.

Luna nodded, "and I told him that I could handle Malfoy by myself."

"Why wouldn't you tell them anything else? Even if you did want to handle Malfoy by yourself, which you don't seem in much of a rush to do, why didn't you let them know the details?" Ginny questioned.

Luna smiled, "I'm glad that you and Harry are worried about me Ginny, but some things aren't meant to be told, and this is one of them."

Ginny had no intention of dropping the subject, "Luna, you don't have to keep Malfoy's secrets!"

Luna sighed, "Ginny, have you ever thought that maybe it's my secrets I'm not telling you?"

Ginny gaped for a minute before regaining her composure, "there are rumours Luna... can't you tell me the truth so I can tell people they're wrong?"

"There are always rumours, a lot of the time they involve me. They have never bothered me before, why bother me now?"

"But these rumours are different!"

"How so?"

"The girls in my dormitory are gossip freaks and they've been telling people that you and Draco were... I'm not going to say it..."

Luna looked at Ginny confused, "Ginny, tell me."

"They-they said you and Malfoy were... well... oh come on Luna, don't make me say it! He pulled you into a spare classroom, put a silencing spell on it and you two were in there for hours! What do you think people are going to say about it?" Ginny was blushing bright red.

Luna thought for a second then it hit her and she blushed as well, "they don't think..."

Ginny nodded, "now can't you see why I need to get rid of these rumours?"

Thoughts whirled around Luna's mind; how could they think that! She would never do anything like that with Malfoy! What was wrong with these girls, thinking she'd lose her virginity to the likes of him!

"Luna? Wait... that wasn't what you were doing in there... was it?" Ginny asked, hesitantly.

"No!" Luna snapped, "We were just talking! I swear!"

Ginny sighed in relief, "okay... I'll try to kill these rumours but if you're seen alone with Malfoy too much there's no way the gossip will stop. Be careful Luna," she warned and ran off to her dormitory to start dispersing these crazy rumours.


	5. Chapter 5

Luna didn't mind when people called her crazy, she laughed when they made fun of all the creatures that she believed in, but this was too much! Luna had walked up to her dormitory one day, and everyone she saw stared and whispered. She didn't think much of it until she arrived at the common room and a second year girl approached her timidly. She had asked Luna if she was really pregnant. Pregnant! Luna snapped; she couldn't take it anymore, her and Malfoy talk once and all of the sudden she's carrying his baby! It was so unrealistic she could've laughed if she weren't so angry.

"Who told you that!" She demanded.

The girl cowered away from her, "just a girl in my dormitory!"

It explained why people had been staring... especially the ones who had been gawking at her belly. This couldn't be happening, how could the whole school think that she was pregnant? Half of her wanted to claw someone's eyes out and the other half wanted to find a quiet spot and cry.

She abruptly stomped out of the common room, heading straight for her tree with tears welling up in her eyes.

Draco sat in the Slytherin common room, playing with some little wizard gadget his father had bought him. He wasn't sure what it did but he was trying to find out. Just then Blaise Zabini entered the common room and sat next to him eagerly.

"What is it Blaise?" Draco asked warily, popping a chocoball into his mouth. He was used to Blaise asking him for things, such as help with homework.

"Is it true that you slept with Loony Lovegood and got her pregnant?"

Draco nearly choked on his chocoball. When he finally swallowed it and could breathe again, he stared at Blaise as if he were crazy, "What!"

"Erm, I'm guessing that's a no...?"

"Of course I didn't sleep with Loony! Who told you that!" Draco asked incredulously.

Blaise watched him anxiously, as if he would explode at any second, "well... everyone. It's a huge rumour, its spread across the whole school."

Draco felt like screaming. Why would anyone think he slept with Loony! And what was this about getting her pregnant? He briefly wondered if Luna knew about this but was quickly centered around himself again, wondering what he was going to do if everyone thought he'd stoop so low as to sleep with some sixth year girl... especially Loony Lovegood!

Luna sat in her tree, tears rolling down her cheeks. She didn't bother to wipe them away, new ones just came anyway. She heard a noise and quickly turned around, ready to attack whoever decided to interrupt her. It was Malfoy. She sniffled and turned away from him, hiding her face. She wanted to strangle him for being too self-conscious to talk to her in the corridor. If he would have just talked to her there, no one would think they slept together!

He climbed up the tree and sat next to her, "hey Luna," he said softly.

She ignored him, blaming him for these cruel rumours.

"Did you... hear the rumours?"

She nodded, still refusing to look at him.

Draco looked at her sadly. She wouldn't even look at him and it was killing him. He had a sudden urge to hug her but resisted, wondering where the hell that came from. He felt the need to say something, anything, to make this better. It was his fault and he knew it, but how could he apologise?

"Luna?" He asked, wishing she'd at least say something.

She finally looked at him, her hair parting to reveal her face. What he saw made him feel ten times worse; tears were still streaming down her face and her bottom lip was quivering as if she was trying to stop crying but couldn't.

"Don't cry," He said softly, feeling as if someone had taken a hammer to his heart.

She wiped the tears away, biting her lip.

"Luna," he asked quietly, "do you hate me?"

She stared at him for a long time and the suspense nearly drove him to insanity but finally she shook her head, "I don't hate you," she said softly.

A wave of relief washed over Draco. He hadn't known just how much her answer meant to him until he got it.

"I-I'm sorry," he said not looking her in the eye.

New tears fell from her face but this time she didn't attempt to hide it, she gave him a shaky smile, "for what? I'm not really pregnant."

Draco smiled sadly, glad that she wasn't too depressed to joke, "I shouldn't have had to talk to you in private... that's probably what started this whole rumour."

She shrugged, "Can I ask you something?"

"Depends," he said.

"Why did you come to this tree?"

He didn't answer at first but eventually said, "Because I knew you'd be here."

"Why did you want to see me?"

"I-I don't know," he said truthfully.

They stared at each other for a few moments before Draco suddenly said, "I have to go." Without another word he climbed down from the tree and walked off in the direction of his dormitory. He grabbed his gadget as he passed it and examined it, trying to get his mind off of Luna. Suddenly the little wizard ball turned bright pink and he almost dropped it in surprise. He'd have to send an owl to his father asking him what it did later but for now, he needed to get some rest.


	6. Chapter 6

Draco walked through the corridors leading to the Great Hall, gritting his teeth against all the whispers and stares. He was used to starting the rumours not being the center of them. He heard some fourth year whisper, "I heard that at the end of the year, they're going to move to the country to raise their kid in peace."

He ignored them.

"Lorelia told me that she heard it's a girl," someone else whispered.

He ignored them.

"I heard that they'd been sneaking off every night since the start of the year and that her getting pregnant wasn't as big of a coincidence as everyone thought," another whispered.

Draco couldn't take it anymore. He turned to the kid that made the last assumption, towering over him with his wand raised.

"I did not sleep with Loony Lovegood!" He roared, causing the little first year to cower away from him. Draco was going to hex him into sixth year but Professor McGonagall walked by at that moment and with a parting glare, Draco headed into the Great Hall.

Luna was used to being made fun of, but she wasn't used to everyone gawking at her stomach and whispering about whether or not the baby would have Draco's eyes. It was awful! At least her friends didn't believe the rumours. She was actually eating in the Great Hall for once, but she had no intentions of sitting at the Ravenclaw table. Instead she took a seat at the Gryffindor table, next to Ron, Hermione, Harry, Ginny and Neville. They kept glancing at her as if making sure she was okay. She wished they would stop but didn't say so, not wanting to drive away the only people she had.

"So, Luna, are you going to be at the first Quidditch match of the year?" Harry asked.

She nodded, "wouldn't miss it."

Ron smiled anxiously, "I'm so nervous, I've been practising as much as I can."

"You'll do fine Ron," Hermione assured, which set the three boys off on a discussion about Quidditch.

Hermione turned to Luna, "so Luna, how are you enjoying your classes?"

"They're okay... although Hagrid still hasn't taken my suggestion to learn about Crumple Horned Snorkacks... (sp)" Luna replied absentmindedly.

Hermione looked like she was going to argue about the existence of such creatures once again but Ginny interrupted her, "I think we should have a girl's night out someday soon!" She randomly exclaimed.

"That would be fun," Hermione smiled.

"What do you do on a girl's night out?" Luna asked, having never been on one.

Ginny and Hermione stared at her like she was mad, "you have fun!" They said at the same time then giggled.

"We would go shopping, have pillow fights, play truth or dare, tell secrets and stay up all night!" Ginny said excitedly.

Luna frowned, "but I'm not in the same house as you two, and Ginny neither of us are in the same year as Hermione."

Ginny shrugged, "who says we have to go by the rules? I'm sure Hermione's roommates wouldn't mind if you and I stay the night there."

Hermione thought it over, "well, I _am _head girl, which means I could get in huge trouble and possibly lose my head girl status if we get caught... but it also means I could think of a pretty believable excuse," she grinned.

"Then it's settled, this weekend is the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, we'll all go together then have a sleepover in 'Mione's dorm," Ginny said happily.

The three girls agreed and started talking excitedly about their plans. Luna even managed to forget about the harsh rumours for a little while.

After diner in the Great Hall, Luna headed up to her dormitory to get some rest. It was far too early to actually sleep, but not wanting to get caught up in the rumours again, she laid on her bed anyway. She started thinking about things and was soon lost in her thoughts. A tap on the window beside her bed caused her to lose her train of thought and glance warily at the window. A large tawny owl was sitting outside with a note tied to its leg. Luna quickly jumped up and let it in, untying the note. The owl watched her as she read the note. She read it another time, then a third time before it totally sunk in, then she thanked the owl and let it back outside before collapsing onto her bed with a lot more to think about.

Draco paced in his dormitory, completely refusing to go down to the common room. Everyone would laugh at him and that was one thing he couldn't take. Diner had been a disaster; he hadn't even finished his meal before the stares and whispers got to him and he'd headed up to his dorm. He'd sent his father an owl, asking about the weird gadget before heading to the Great Hall and he hoped he would get a reply soon. It was bothering him not knowing. Draco picked up the little ball again, wondering what it did and it turned a bright orange color. He stared at it, still puzzling over what the confusing thing did. Just then, Blaise came up to the dormitory and sat on his bed. Draco stared at him menacingly, wanting to be left alone but Blaise either didn't get the hint or ignored it.

"Hey Draco, I heard the baby's a girl and there's a large debate on whether or not it will have your eyes," Blaise teased with a grin.

The ball in Draco's hand changed to a deep red and he angrily said, "Shut up! I didn't sleep with Loony!"

"I guess that means the baby won't have your eyes," Blaise joked then quickly said, "I know you didn't sleep with Loony, but you have been awful nice to her the past few weeks."

Draco flushed, "It's none of your business whether I'm nice to Loony or not!"

"Just pointing it out," Blaise shrugged.

Draco sighed and sat on his bed. Sometimes he felt like Blaise was the only Slytherin he could trust. Blaise was his only real friend but that didn't mean he was going to tell him about the weird feeling he had whenever he was around Luna. That would stay a secret


	7. Chapter 7

Luna read the note one more time,

_Luna,_

_Meet me in the Dungeons at 1pm_

_Draco_

_(P.S. burn this after you read it)_

She didn't know why Draco wanted to meet her, especially at one in the morning but she was ready to go anyway. It was a quarter to one so she got dressed, threw the note in the fire and crept down to the dungeons. Luckily she wasn't caught by anyone or she would have a lot of explaining to do. She walked into the potions room and sat down, waiting. She was sure that Draco wouldn't show up, so when he did she was a little surprised.

"You came," she said.

Draco raised an eyebrow, "well yeah, I asked you to come here so why wouldn't I show up?"

Luna shrugged, "This could have been another prank, although I'm glad it isn't, the flobberworm mucus took forever to get out of my hair."

"Sorry about that," he said, and he looked like he meant it too.

"So what did you want?" Luna asked.

Draco looked at her, "I think we should work together to rid the halls of these nasty rumours."

Luna blinked, "but... wouldn't people seeing us together just make them think the rumours are true?"

"Not if they see me pranking you," Draco grinned.

Luna sighed, she could see the logic in that but she still didn't like it, "alright, fine what are you going to do?"

Draco shook his head teasingly, "I'm not telling. It has to be a surprise or it won't look real."

Luna gulped, "nothing too bad though right?"

"We'll see," Draco said smirking.

With that happy note, Draco left the dungeons. Pranking Luna would be a win win situation; he'd get rid of the rumours and hopefully, this weird feeling he got whenever he was around her. Maybe he just needed to prank her really badly to make that go away.

For the next few days, Luna was on edge thinking that Draco would prank her at any minute. She would see him in the hallways and he would give her a sly grin that sent shivers up her spine. Hermione and Ginny noticed something was wrong but didn't say anything, instead they tried to distract her by talking about their girl's night out. The first trip to Hogsmeade approached quickly and before she knew it, Luna was walking through the streets of Hogsmeade with Ginny and Hermione. She hoped that for one night she could forget about the whole Draco mess and just have fun.

"Dean was definitely a good kisser," Ginny giggled, pausing to take a sip of her butterbeer, "but he just wasn't my type."

Hermione nodded, "If you want a good kisser, you should try snogging Victor Krum," she giggled as well.

Luna listened quietly, as the girls talked about their ex-boyfriends. She'd had one or two boyfriends as well but it had never lasted long enough for a kiss.

"Luna, what about you, do you have any ex's that are good kissers?" Hermione asked, smiling.

"I haven't had my first kiss," she said in her light airy voice, "I'm waiting for that special someone."

Ginny and Hermione both smiled dreamily and then the topic changed and the girls were chattering away again. Soon they left the three broomsticks and walked around Hogsmeade. They went to Zonkos joke shop and had a good time laughing at the ridiculous products there. Then they headed to Honeydukes and stocked up on candy for that night. After all the excitement at Hogsmeade the girls were happy to return to the castle for their sleepover. Around eleven, Luna left her common room with her bag and made her way to the Gryffindor common room. Unfortunately, it didn't go as smoothly as when she crept to the dungeons. On her way, she heard a small mew and looked down startled to see Mrs. Norris out for her nightly patrol. The cat ran off to get Filch with its head held high.

Luna needed to hide before Filch got there or she'd be in a heap of trouble. She was thinking about places to hide when suddenly a door appeared on the blank wall next to her, under the troll tapestry. She quickly entered the room and shut the door behind her, hoping Filch wouldn't think to check there. A few minutes later, she could hear the grumbling of Filch approaching followed by the gentle, innocent mews of Mrs. Norris. Luna held her breath, staying as quiet as she could.

"There's no need to be quiet... he can't hear you," a voice from behind her said. She jumped, surprised that she wasn't alone. Luna turned quickly, wand raised in case this person decided to hurt her. She lowered her wand once she saw that it was only Draco.

"Why do I keep running into you like this?" She whispered, putting her wand away, "and what do you mean he can't hear us? He's right outside!"

Draco shook his head, "do you even know what room this is?" He asked in a rather loud voice.

Luna shushed him, "no, but does that really matter?"

"This is the room of requirement; it tends to your needs. You asked for a hiding place didn't you? Well that's what it gave you; no one can hear you while you're in here."

She looked at him surprised, "no one?"

"Not a living soul, and besides Filch couldn't get in here if he did hear you because the door is gone. No one will see you unless they ask for a hiding place as well."

"Why did you ask for a hiding place, Draco?" She asked.

Draco didn't really want to say. He hadn't been hiding himself, but an object; an object that he was going to use as part of the prank. Of course he couldn't tell Luna that or she might search for it. He started thinking about the prank again, going over all of the things he needed in his head.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Luna said, and then she looked at him, "oh, I'm sorry I interrupted a thought didn't I?"

"Well yes but... how can you tell?"

"I can see it growing smaller in your-"

"Eyes," he finished for her, "you seem to be able to tell a lot about me by my eyes can't you?"

Luna smiled slightly, "your eyes tell all. That's what my father always says."

"Are you looking at my eyes a lot? Bet you can't tear your eyes away," Draco smirked.

Luna blushed and, although Draco kept up his haughty smirk, he was surprised. He hadn't thought that she actually peaked at his eyes sometimes. For some reason the thought made him kind of happy.

"So, um, are you going to tell me what you're doing in here?" Luna asked, trying to change the subject.

Draco shook his head, "You'll find out soon enough."

They heard Filch muttering about students out of bed before leaving. Luna opened the door a crack and peaked out to make sure he was really gone. Luckily, he was and Luna picked up her bag about to leave.

"Where are you going?" Draco asked curiously.

"If you must know, I'm having a sleepover with Ginny and Hermione."

Draco raised an eyebrow and looked like he was about to speak but Luna interrupted him.

"-and don't you dare mention anything about mudbloods or blood traitors."

"Actually," he said, "I was just going to say have fun."

"Oh," Luna said, feeling bad for accusing him, "well, thank you then. I will."

"Good night," Draco said as she left.

"Good night Draco."


	8. Chapter 8

Ginny giggled, "Let's play truth or dare!"

"That game always turns out the same, no one picks dare!" Lavender complained.

Hermione chucked a pillow at her, "lighten up Lav, I think it'll be fun," she said.

Lavender hit her with the pillow. The two girls looked as if they were about to have a very intense pillow fight but Ginny said, "I'll go first!"

"Hermione, truth or dare?" she asked.

"Um... truth," Hermione answered, staying on the safe side as usual.

Ginny grinned, "do you like Ron?"

Hermione blushed and said, "Well yes, he's a very good friend."

"Do you like him as more than friends though?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You can only ask one question per turn!" Hermione exclaimed, still bright red.

Ginny frowned but didn't argue and Hermione said, "Luna, truth or dare?"

Luna thought about it for a moment before saying, "truth."

"What's your biggest secret?" Hermione asked, getting right to the point.

Luna flushed, she hadn't told anyone about her mom but that wasn't really a secret, she just didn't bring it up. The only secret she could think of was that she sometimes talked to Draco. She couldn't tell them that though...

"Luna?" Ginny said, "You have to answer!"

"Um... Maybe we should do something else," she said nervously.

The girls all shook their heads, "you have to tell!" Hermione giggled.

"...I'll tell you two but not them," Luna whispered to Hermione.

Lavender pouted, "why not us?"

"I wonder why Lav," Ginny said sarcastically, "it's not like you'd tell anyone..."

Hermione grabbed Luna and Ginny's arms and pulled them over to a corner of the room where the other girls wouldn't hear them, "now spill."

Luna blushed again, "...sometimes I talk to Dra- Malfoy,"

Both the girls gawked at her.

"Were you about to say...Draco?" Hermione asked.

Luna shrugged and Ginny made a strangled sound, "tell all," she said.

Luna told them about her and Draco's conversations, leaving out all of the parts that seemed too... flirty. She scolded herself for thinking that word in the same sentence as Draco's name.

"Luna, you should stay away from him," Hermione warned.

Ginny nodded in agreement but Luna just stayed quiet. She didn't want to stay away from Draco; she liked spending time with him. She thought about their meeting tonight, and she knew she couldn't avoid him; she wouldn't go looking for him but she wouldn't avoid him either. The girls were still looking at her expectantly so she just nodded with her fingers crossed behind her back. They smiled and returned to the rest of the girls. The rest of the night went by smoothly and was a lot of fun; the most fun Luna had had in a while.

The next few days went by without a hitch. Luna didn't see Draco and Hermione didn't tell the boys about her confession she made at the sleepover. Other than the constant whispers and stares, things were starting to seem normal again; well as normal as you can get with Luna. A few weeks later, Luna was walking through the corridors with Ginny and Neville when Draco suddenly approached them.

"Hello Loony," he said mockingly with an easygoing smirk on his face.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Ginny questioned.

"Oh nothing, just saying hello," he said with a glint in his eye. He started to walk away but stopped beside Luna and whispered, "Can't wait for that prank!"

Luna's eyes widened. She'd almost forgotten about the prank but she knew now that it was going to happen soon.

The next morning, Luna got up groggily and looked in the mirror to brush her hair. She screamed. Looking back at her was the same Luna she knew but with green hair. Her scream woke the other girls in her dorm and half of them acted sympathetic, the other half just laughed. Luna was scared to leave her room and was wondering who would do something like this to her. Then she remembered Draco's threat the other day in the corridor. She was _so_ going to get him back and it was not going to be pretty!

Draco sat in his dormitory, feeling a little guilty. The green dye wasn't permanent but it would last for a few weeks at least. To execute this prank Draco had needed to ask Pansy Parkinson to sneak into the Ravenclaw girl's dorm. It had taken a while to figure out the password and convince Pansy to do it but eventually he'd managed to get the dye into Luna's shampoo. It was a good plan and now all he had to do was make sure everyone knew he was the one that did it.

He walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast and saw Luna with green hair. He felt kind of bad but pretended he wasn't, keeping a smirk on his face. To his surprise, Luna smirked back. It threw him off a little but he tried his best to stay focused on the task at hand; making sure his prank was well known.

Luna walked over to the Slytherin table, ignoring the stares and whispers. She was also ignoring the squirming hamster in the pocket of her robe.

"You know, dye in the shampoo isn't very original," she said, sitting next to him.

He raised an eyebrow, "what are you doing here?"

"Oh nothing... just saying hello," she quoted him with a smirk. She started to trace small circles with her finger on his arm. He glanced at her and she started moving her hand lower. She played with his pant line for a minute before carefully tugging at it. Draco's breath caught and she smiled, glad he didn't expect what she had in mind. She quickly tugged the hamster from her pocket and dropped it into Draco's pants. Then she smiled sweetly at him and skipped back over to the Ravenclaw table.

Draco watched her confused before he felt the tickling of the little hamster's paws. He gave a rather girly squeal and jumped up from the table jumping around, trying to shake the hamster out. Luna smiled satisfactorily, watching Draco do a weird dance while letting out random girly squeaks. His face was bright red, he obviously knew he was embarrassing himself but cared more about getting rid of the hamster crawling around his pants then about his dignity at the moment. Everyone in the Great Hall was either gawking at him or laughing at him; the majority was laughing. The hamster crawled into his pant leg and he started trying to shake it out. Someone whistled and he blushed even more. Luna felt a little bad for doing that to him... he would be made fun of for this longer than she would be made fun of for her hair.

Finally, Draco managed to get the hamster out of his pants and it scurried away. He stormed from the Great Hall, giving Luna an evil glare before departing. Suddenly, she was kind of scared of what Draco would do. Luna knew he would get her back and she knew it would be ten times worse than what she did.


	9. Chapter 9

"_You_ did that!" Hermione questioned grinning, "Brilliant!"

Ginny was smiling, "I am so proud of you Luna! I didn't think you had it in ya."

"I guess now we've seen the evil side of Luna Lovegood," Hermione commented.

Luna blushed, "I feel sort of bad though, I normally wouldn't have done that but... he dyed my hair..."

"You had every right!" Ginny exclaimed, "He messed with your hair, he was asking for it!"

Luna smiled, glad that the girls thought she did the right thing even though she didn't. She knew that revenge was never the answer but she had been so caught up in the fact that her hair was _green _that she had thought it the right thing to do. She also realized that she was going to pay for what she did to Draco and she wasn't looking forward to it. Hermione must have seen her worried look because she gave her a sympathetic look.

"We have your back Luna, remember that... anything he does, he will regret."

Luna smiled, "thanks 'Mione."

"Oh and Luna," Ginny said, "if you need help with revenge ideas, I have 24/7 access to Pigwigton so you can get ideas on demand from Fred and George.

Luna laughed, "Thanks Gin," she said, "I'm going to go look for my shoes."

Hermione and Ginny exchanged an odd look but nodded and said bye none the less. Luna started walking barefoot down the corridors, looking for her missing shoes. Odd that they'd all just disappear like that... She was walking down the cold corridor when she heard a mischievous snicker come from the boy's lavatory. Knowing very well that she shouldn't be in the boy's lavatory, she hesitantly opened the door a crack and peaked in to see what was going on in there.

Draco stood over the sink mixing some sort of potion. She bit her lip, hoping to God that it wasn't meant for her. Draco heard something and turned around but Luna had already ducked out of the boy's lavatory and started hurrying to her dormitory, shoes forgotten. When she got to her dormitory she headed straight to her bed, ignoring the stares and rude comments about her hair. The rumours about her being pregnant had quickly dropped after their little prank war started but there was new gossip replacing the old rumours already. Luna flopped face first onto her bed. She wished that Draco never would've pranked her in the first place, then none of this would've happened and she would still be Loony Lovegood not the pregnant girl with green hair.

Luna opened her eyes warily. She didn't remember falling asleep the night before but her brain was still a little fuzzy so perhaps she'd recall what had happened when she was more awake. She sat up and the first thing she did was feel her hair and face for anything prank-like. She examined herself in the mirror and found that luckily, Draco hadn't pranked her while she slept. She still wasn't up to eating in the Great Hall though so she headed to the kitchens. Luna was skipping towards the picture with the ticklish pear when she heard footsteps echoing down the corridor. She quickly turned around, wand in hand, ready to attack if it was Draco.

It wasn't Draco.

It was Filch.

"What do you think you're doing down here?" He growled.

Luna hesitated, unsure of whether or not she should lie but figured it best, "I was just taking a walk; it's very nice in this part of the castle. There are a lot of portraits that you don't get to see every day on your way to class."

Filch considered this for a moment, looking over her with wary eyes. Luna was too sweet and innocent to be considered guilty even when she was guilty.

Eventually, Filch said, "Students aren't supposed to be in this corridor, I'll let ya off with a warning this time but if I see you round these parts again it'll be a detention, got that?"

"Yes, Mr. Filch," Luna nodded and hurried to the Great Hall. That was just great, now she didn't have access to food unless she ate in the Great Hall.

She sat next to Ginny, Neville and Colin Creevy. She didn't talk to Colin much but he seemed nice and he was one of Ginny's closest friends so Luna didn't mind sitting by him. They were having a heated discussion about Quidditch which wasn't really Luna's thing but she listened anyway. Draco walked over to the table and everyone turned to glare at him. He didn't seem to mind though. He just smirked and attempted to play with a lock of Luna's green hair. I say attempted because as soon as he touched her hair three spells hit him at the same time.

Ginny hit him with a very nasty bat bogey hex, Colin hit him with Experlliarmus causing his wand to fly across the Great Hall right into Hermione's hands and Neville hit him with Stupify. Draco flew across the Great Hall and collapsed in a heap, unconscious. The bat bogey hex really wrapped it up; watching Malfoy get pummelled by his own bogeys was icing on the cake. Ginny smiled at her work proudly. Luna bit her lip nervously, she was sure Draco had meant no harm other than to mock her by playing with her hair and she was certain that the others had taken it a tad bit too far. A few of Malfoy's cronies hurriedly picked him up and rushed him to the hospital wing, trying to avoid getting hit by the bogeys on the way. Luna couldn't help but giggle although she still thought it was completely inappropriate to stoop to his level. Luna sighed, realizing what she had just thought; she was such a hypocrite.

She gulped down the rest of her pumpkin juice and headed to her dorm to get her books. She had Potions and Transfigurations class... fun. On her way to Potions she felt really tired, even though she had just woken up. She ignored her sleepiness and sat by her cauldron in Snape's classroom. She almost fell asleep three times during Potions class but finally it was over and she headed to Transfiguration. Luna was walking down an empty corridor when the fatigue overwhelmed her and she fell asleep in the middle of the corridor. Draco smirked; all was going according to plan.


	10. Chapter 10

Luna woke up groggily. Where was she? It looked like the dungeons but she wasn't sure... One thing was sure, she was on the floor and she wasn't alone. Luna sat up and looked around, she was in the potions classroom and Snape was sitting at his desk with a flask of butterbeer. She stood up and walked over to his desk.

"Professor?"

"You want to know what happened, but don't ask me. I came into my classroom and you were passed out on the floor and this bottle of butterbeer was left with a note," Snape told her.

Luna read the note warily. It said;

_Luna, _

_I'm sorry; I was going to prank you but... I felt bad and put you somewhere you would be safe when you woke. Let's call a truce. _

It wasn't signed but Luna instantly knew who it was and smiled to herself, "it's safe to drink professor."

"If you're sure," Snape said, seeming unusually cheery. He poured the butterbeer into two separate cups and Luna gratefully downed hers in one gulp. It tasted odd... delicious but, different. Luna's head started to spin and she put these thoughts aside although she was still very light-headed and giddy. She filled her cup again. Snape did the same and an uncanny smile spread across his usually grim face. Luna hiccupped, once then again and again. She giggled at her hiccupping as Snape chugged the rest of the butterbeer.

Luna woke for the third time that day, with a migraine. She sat up and took in her surroundings. She was in the Potions classroom still... what had happened? She remembered drinking the butterbeer but nothing after that. Then she realized something, something that made her shriek:

She was naked.

And so was Snape.

She screamed, causing Snape to quickly wake up. He looked stunned for a minute; Snape looked her over then looked at himself. He screamed. Luna quickly hid behind the desk, looking around frantically for her clothes. She was trying very hard not to look at Snape... she had already seen a lot more of him than she wanted. She was definitely going to have nightmares about this... Her clothes were next to Snape and she averted her eyes as she ran across the room to grab them. Luna scurried back behind the desk and pulled her clothes on as Snape tried to find his. When the two were finally clothed they allowed themselves to breathe and think about how this could have happened.

"We can't remember a thing, and ended up... erm... naked next to each other," Snape said, "this is definitely the result of alcohol."

"W-we got drunk?" Luna questioned.

Snape nodded, "It was probably the butterbeer, but who spiked the drink...?"

"It was Draco!" Luna exclaimed hysterically, "he was getting me back for the hamster!"

"...hamster? You know what, I don't want to know," Snape said exasperatedly.

"That must be it! I'm part of this stupid prank war! I shouldn't have trusted Draco, don't trust Draco, kill Draco," Luna mumbled insanely to herself.

Snape was a little afraid of her and a lot more afraid that someone would find out he had gotten drunk with a student... People did crazy things when they were drunk... how far did he and Luna go? They did wake up naked together after all... Snape shuddered at the thought.

Luna was still muttering crazed sentences about killing Draco and Snape thought it best if she left. After being kicked out of the potions room, Luna didn't head to her dorm but to the Gryffindor common room. She really needed Ginny and Hermione.

"Evil. Prank. Butterbeer. Snape. Drunk. Naked. Kill." Luna muttered when Hermione opened the portrait for her.

"Um... Luna? Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

Ginny approached them and instantly saw that there was a problem, "my dorms empty, let's go."

Luna explained everything and was near tears by the time she finished. Hermione and Ginny both were ready to kill Draco for her and they agreed that they'd corner him the next day at diner. After comforting Luna and making plans to get Draco back (which also seemed to cheer Luna up) she finally went back to her own dorm and fell into an uneasy sleep. Unfortunately, even sleep didn't save her from Draco's evil prank war. In her dream she was sleeping curled up next to an unnamed figure. He kissed her neck, slowly working his way to her lips. She smiled and opened her eyes to see who it was. She was looking at the handsome face of Draco Malfoy who leaned in to kiss her. Luna smiled and leaned into the kiss but when his lips were an inch from hers, he morphed into Professor Snapes sneering face. Suddenly they were both naked and Draco was looking down at them smirking and holding a bottle of butterbeer. Luna woke up, covered in sweat and panting.

The next day wasn't much better; every little thing sent her into a panic attack. She couldn't take Snape seriously anymore and if anyone even mentioned Butterbeer, she felt nauseous. She didn't know how much more of this she could take. Eventually diner rolled around and Hermione and Ginny stuck to their word. They met Luna at the Ravenclaw table and headed toward the Slytherin house to confront Draco. As soon as Draco caught sight of the three very angry girls he started to sweat... it didn't help that they all had their wands out.

"We know what you did," Hermione stated.

"W-what I did?" Draco questioned nervously.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "don't play dumb with us, blondie."

Luna glanced at Ginny sharply, "what's wrong with blondes?"

"Your one to talk, ginger," Draco retorted, ignoring Luna.

Ginny flushed, "Stop getting off topic!"

"Yes, stop getting off topic. Draco, we just wanted to let you know that we know what you did and you're going to pay for it," Hermione said, seething.

Draco gulped, "...I-I have no idea what you're talking about..."

"I know that you spiked our butterbeer Draco, I also know that you deliberately gave the butterbeer to _Professor Snape_ of all people and that somehow you knocked me out and dragged me into the potions room," Luna told him, her small hands curled into fists.

Draco's eyes widened, "oh," was all he said.

Hermione cleared her throat, "Malfoy, how did you do it?" The two girls shot confused glances at her; they were here to intimidate, not question him.

"I'm just curious," Hermione defended.

"It wasn't that difficult honestly," Draco said, a slight smirk back on his face, "While playing with her hair the other day in the Great Hall, I slipped a potion that I'd been working on into her pumpkin juice. The potion would make her very sleepy until, around an hour after she took it, she would fall asleep. I waited for her when she left the potions classroom to see if it had taken affect. She fell asleep and I dragged her back to the potions room, knowing that Snape would have a free period at that time. Then, while she was still sleeping, I told Snape that I'd found her asleep in the corridor and carefully placed a bottle of butterbeer next to his desk when he wasn't looking.

The butterbeer of course, was spiked with a heavy alcohol. The prank was only intended to make Luna act like a drunken idiot in front of professor Snape but when he drank the butterbeer too, it made the prank ten times better," Draco smirked, "I left after you stripped, I noticed that Snape was starting to take off his clothes as well and that wasn't a sight that I wanted to see..."

"Wait! You left _after_ I took off my clothes? So you-you saw me... naked!" Luna questioned hysterically.

Draco smirked again and waggled his eyebrows suggestively, "unlike your weird personality, you have a verynice body."

Luna blushed so much that she was sure she'd be seen from space. Ginny and Hermione both had their wands aimed at Draco's face and his smirk disappeared.

"What did you say, Malfoy?" Ginny growled.

"Nothing," he squeaked out, cowering away from her wand. She was an expert at the bat-bogey hex and that was one thing that Draco did not want to experience again.

"You are so going to get it Malfoy," Hermione said lividly.


	11. Chapter 11

A week went by while Hermione, Ginny and Luna came up with a plan to get back at Draco. Luna was still slightly hysterical since the Snape incident but she was getting better. She still couldn't drink butterbeer though. When the preparations for the plan were complete, they set it in action.

"What I'm trying to tell you is... I forgive you," Luna told Draco while they sat in her tree.

"Y-you do?" Draco asked hopefully. Luna almost felt bad about what she was going to do to him but these uncertain thoughts were instantly wiped away as soon as she thought of Snape.

"Yes, and I was wondering if maybe you could forgive me too... for the hamster thing?"

"Of course I forgive you, let's put this whole prank war behind us."

Luna nodded. She was seriously considering taking up acting; if he believed her that quickly then she must be a good actress.

"Hey Draco, want to do something?"

"Like what?" He asked, eyes lighting up.

Luna rolled her eyes, she thought she knew what he had in mind, "Well, there are rumours about Bloody Mary spreading around my dorm and I wanted to see if they were real or not. I'm too scared to try it myself though so I thought maybe if I could get someone strong and manly to come with me then I might feel a little safer."

Draco puffed out his chest proudly and Luna resisted the urge to roll her eyes again, "sure Luna let's go."

Luna led him to a deserted classroom with a large mirror stowed away neatly in the corner. She got the mirror out and turned to him.

"Draco, I'm still scared... will you do it for me?" Luna whimpered, cuddling up to him. She praised herself on her acting skills.

"Of course," He said smiling reassuringly at her. Luna felt another pang of guilt but ignored it. Her plan was too far along to be diminished now.

"Thank you! I'm going to turn out the lights and leave the room, you just have to look into the mirror and say Bloody Mary three times. The girls said if you do then Bloody Mary will come out of the mirror and haunt you. Don't worry though if it is real, which I seriously doubt, then all you have to do is turn on the lights and open the door and her spirit will fade away."

Draco nodded nervously and looked at the mirror. Luna smirked and flicked off the lights, "good luck."

Luna was glad that the plan was working so well. She rushed back to the classroom beside the one Draco was in and high fived Ginny and Hermione.

"We should get you into acting Luna!" Hermione said happily.

"Ready?" Ginny asked, her wand out.

The girls nodded and Ginny cast a spell to lock the door of the room Draco was in. Hermione used another, more complex, spell to blow the lights and the three girls worked together on a spell to make the wall dividing the two classrooms see-through from their side. Draco wouldn't be able to see them but they would be able to see every prank filled minute. Then they let in the select few that would be able to see the prank in action. They had sold 'tickets' to all of the people most likely to spread rumours; it was an extra five sickels to bring a camera. Next to arrive was Leila, a nice but menacing ghost. _Lights, camera, action, _Luna thought smiling.

Draco looked at the mirror nervously and gulped. Ghosts can't hurt people right? He glanced around, wondering if he should make a break for it but decided to just get it over with for Luna. He looked into the mirror, his reflection twisted in the darkness.

"Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary," He said slowly.

A light wind blew through the classroom sending chills up his spine. A low moan emitted from the walls and he looked around frightened. Draco started to move towards the door, already scared. Then, a figure darted into his line of vision. Draco screamed and dashed for the door. He tugged on it but it wouldn't budge. He was breathing heavily and resisting the strong urge to wet himself. Quickly, Draco reached for the light switch but the lights weren't working. The figure came closer to him, her arms outstretched. He screamed again muttering for her to leave him alone.

"Who had disturbed my eternal rest?" She moaned, floating closer to him.

Draco whimpered and backed away from her into the wall. She started saying his name in an eerie shrill voice. He slid to the ground, tears of fear welling up in his eyes. Suddenly, he remembered that he was a wizard and reached for his wand but it was gone. He curled up into a ball and begged Bloody Mary to leave him alone. She didn't oblige, instead she drifted closer to him until she went right through him. Draco shivered from the cold, chilling sensation that always came when a ghost floated through you. He let a tear trail down his face and mumbled the words, 'don't hurt me' over and over again.

Luna watched Draco suffer while twirling his wand around in her hands. She should be enjoying this but... she wasn't. She felt bad for poor Draco and she wished that she had never decided to pull this prank in the first place. Leila was putting on a good show and she could hear Hermione and Ginny laughing loudly. She could also see camera's flashing and the giggles of the other girls that were sure to let the whole school know about this. Luna couldn't focus on them, she couldn't take her eyes off of Draco, curled in a ball and crying. She bit her lip, maybe she took this a little too far...

Draco was honestly wondering if he would live through this or not. He'd heard the stories of Bloody Mary and none of the victims ended up alive. He wished Luna would come to check on him, he would be embarrassed if she saw him blubbering like a little baby but he was sure that her presence would calm him down and let him think clearly. Bloody Mary came closer until her face was inches from Dracos and he closed his eyes in defeat. This was the end. After all of the bad things he'd done, you'd think he would regret more but the only thing he _really _regretted was that he never told Luna how he felt. He'd been so confused about her but he was sure now. He was in love with Luna Lovegood. It felt good to admit it to himself and he wished that he had the courage to tell Luna but he was weak, a wimp, a stupid excuse for a wizard who couldn't even say three special words out loud.

The lights flickered to life. Draco opened his eyes hesitantly and looked around. Bloody Mary was still there but she was smiling and standing farther away from him. Actually, she looked kind of nice. Then he heard laughter and his face flushed. He knew that laugh; it was the mudblood and her idiot red-headed friend. Draco scrambled to his feet and turned to face a group of people, half of them holding cameras and all of them laughing... all of them but Luna that is. He blushed, realizing that it was all another prank. Which meant Luna had been acting through all of it; she didn't think he was strong or manly, she thought he was a wimpy, easily frightened kid who would wet himself if she left him alone in the dark. What made it worse was that she was right.

"Hey Malfoy, smile for the camera," some girl cackled, taking another picture of him.

Luna looked at him apologetically and handed him his wand. He snatched it from her and stalked from the room, determined not to let them see how much this was bothering him.

Luna watched him leave sadly. She turned to the others, "actually, no pictures... I'll give you your money back," she said, holding out her hand for the cameras. Ginny and Hermione looked at her incredulously but she ignored them. The girls frowned and handed over the cameras, still whispering excitedly about what they just witnessed.

"I'm going to my dorm," Luna said and left the room.


	12. Chapter 12

Luna didn't make it to her dorm. She was almost there when she heard Draco's voice coming from the boy's lavatory. Her curiosity took over and Luna found herself peaking into the lavatory to see who he was talking to. Apparently, Draco was talking to himself.

"Stop being such a wimp!" He scolded himself in front of the mirror.

Luna watched curiously as Draco continued insulting himself. Eventually, she decided that she should let her presence be known.

"You're such a baby!" Draco said to himself again.

"You're not a baby," Luna said quietly.

Draco spun around to face her, "Luna? What are you doing here?" He asked then realized what she'd said, "...how long have you been here?"

"I heard you talking to yourself and came to make sure you weren't insane..."

Draco blushed, "you know, some people consider talking to yourself a sign of intelligence."

"You just keep telling yourself that," Luna said, rolling her eyes.

They lapsed into an awkward silence. Draco cleared his throat nervously and said, "Luna, I need to tell you something..."

"Yes?"

"Um..." Draco felt his throat go dry, "never mind."

Luna frowned, "why won't you tell me?"

"...I'll tell you what I was going to say, when you tell me the story behind your Dirigible Plum earrings," Draco smirked.

"Okay, but not here," Luna said.

Draco looked at her shocked, "What? Now?"

Luna nodded and smiled, "you said you'd tell me, no take backs!"

"B-but, I don't want to tell you yet!" Draco said, starting to panic, "Why not wait a few days at least?"

"Why? What's so important that you want to put off telling me?"

"...I can't tell you..."

Luna sighed, "Fine. You have a week to tell me."

"What if I take more than a week?" Draco asked nervously.

"Then I will annoy the information out of you," Luna smiled sweetly.

Why the hell did he bring it up in the first place? He knew he wasn't ready to tell her how he felt so why did he have to go and make her curious?

"Oh and Draco... I'm sorry about the prank."

He looked at her a little surprised and shrugged, pretending that it was no big deal.

"I confiscated the cameras," she said, "here."

He took the cameras from Luna's outstretched hands and quietly said, "Thanks."

While they were on the topic of pranks, Luna had to ask, "Draco... I didn't _do_ anything with Snape... did I?" She shivered at the thought.

"I'm really sorry about that prank Luna... I took it way too far. I'm pretty sure you didn't do anything with Snape but... I didn't stay to watch so..." Draco said. He actually sounded sincere when he apologized.

Luna bit her lip, "Let's agree never to prank each other again... okay?"

Draco nodded, "agreed... and Luna, I'm also sorry about the green hair."

The green dye in Luna's hair had already begun to fade but it was still very noticeable.

"It's okay... It wasn't the worst prank you could've played," she told him.

Draco played with a strand of her hair and said, "Even with green hair, you still look beautiful." As soon as the words left his lips, he wished he could suck them back in. He was very surprised at himself for saying something like that and he could tell Luna was just as shocked.

"I-I have to go," Luna said, blushing. She ran from the boy's lavatory, up to her room and collapsed on her bed. Why was life so confusing?


	13. Chapter 13

It was almost a week; Draco had to tell her soon. Luna was very curious about this secret that Draco was going to reveal, it had been bugging her all week. Soon though, the week would be over and she'd force his secret out of him. Luna winced, that had sounded meaner than she wanted it too and she was glad that she was the only one capable of hearing her thoughts.

Luna was daydreaming during last period charms. She wanted the class to end soon; not only was it a very boring lesson but she found that she couldn't concentrate. Luckily, someone decided to end the class early by casting the rictusempra charm on Professor Flitwick causing him to be endlessly tickled by invisible hands. Unable to cast the counter spell through bouts of laughter, the professor was forced to leave the class unattended while he went to the hospital wing. Luna wore a slight smile and let herself become fully immersed by her countless daydreams.

"Luna?"

Luna looked up sharply, snapping out of it. When she saw who was talking to her, her breath caught. She swallowed hard, willing herself to say something somewhat smart sounding, "y-yes?"

"I was wondering if I could borrow some ink," Donec Vruce grinned, "daydreaming?"

Luna blushed, "um, yeah." She said and passed him her ink; she had more in her dorm.

He smiled, "I do that all the time, sometimes life's better in your head, you know?"

"Yeah, I do," Luna said with a smile. She was wondering why Donec was even talking to her, he was one of the most popular guys in her year. Not that she minded that he was talking to her.

"I bet you do, I heard about the pranking thing..." He trailed off uncertainly, as if worried that she might be upset that he brought it up. He was so sweet.

Luna blushed slightly and played with her hair self-consciously. There was still a hint of green but other than that Luna was blonde again.

"Yeah, that's been pretty bad. It's over now though, we talked about it and decided that it just wasn't worth it."

Donec nodded, "that's good, and pranks are kind of stupid anyways. No one wins; it just keeps going on and on until someone gets hurt."

Luna nodded, "I feel the same way about them. I normally wouldn't sink to his level but... he pranked me pretty bad and I wasn't really thinking straight. I just wanted to get him back, which wasn't really the right way to go about it," she admitted.

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Donec said, "everyone has their breaking points and Malfoy went well past that line."

Luna smiled, glad that he understood.

"Well, thanks for the ink. It's been nice talking to you Luna, we should do this again sometime," Donec said with a warm smile.

Luna nodded, speechless and Donec left with a parting smile. She sat like that until the bell rang.

She hadn't made it five steps from the classroom door before she was stopped by Draco. She'd almost forgotten about the secret but his presence had reminded her.

"Are you ready to tell me?"

Draco shook his head wordlessly and Luna sighed. She saw Donec leaving the classroom out of the corner of her eye and turned to wave to him. Luna couldn't quite place her finger on it but she noticed something different about his smile and wave, it had almost seemed... flirty. Draco had seen too.

"Who's that?" He asked a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Donec Vruce, you know him."

Draco cleared his throat, "I didn't think he hung around girls like you."

Luna felt anger boil up in the pit of her stomach, "what do you mean girls like me?"

"Weird girls," he smirked.

Luna's hands curled into fists, "so what your saying is you don't think I have a chance with him?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Well how would you know!" She yelled, really angry.

"Have you had a boyfriend in your six years of Hogwarts?"

"...no..."

Draco smirked, "well then what makes you think you'll get one now?"

Luna's bottom lip quivered with anger, "Do me a favour and stay out of my life!" She yelled and ran from the corridor.

Draco stood there mentally cursing himself for saying that. She was obviously sensitive about her dating life and he'd known it. He knew that he'd said that to get her back for liking Donec but why? She didn't even know how he felt so why should he be angry at her for liking someone else? Draco followed Luna, ready to apologize and maybe... just maybe, tell her how he felt.

Luna ran to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, where a small meadow was hidden by the menacing trees surrounding it. The meadow was very pretty and Luna would often go there when she was sad, it was a place to cry when she didn't want anyone to see. Luna did that now. She let the tears snake their way down her face and hit the grass below her. She sat in the long grass and thought about everything that had happened in the last few months. She heard a noise and quickly wiped away her tears. Draco entered the meadow and Luna felt like crying again. She had no will to deal with his constant jabs about her social life right now.

"Luna... were you crying?" He asked looking extremely guilty.

Luna sniffled and wiped away a fresh tear. She didn't answer him but she didn't have to.

"I am so sorry," he said, looking Luna in the eyes, "I really didn't mean any of that...I was just... jealous." He finished, and looked at the ground between his feet.

Luna looked at him surprised, "j-jealous?"

Draco nodded and held out his hand to help her up. She accepted it gratefully and when she stood they were just inches apart. Draco didn't let go of her hand. Luna watched him suspiciously. She was all for forgive and forget but this was crazy, just yesterday he had been her enemy. He stroked a strand of her hair gently, staring intensely into her eyes. His gray eyes bore into hers and she felt as if her life was hanging on a fragile string that he had complete control of. He leaned in slowly and her heart starting beating ten times faster; she couldn't believe that this was actually happening. She was about to kiss Draco Malfoy. His lips brushed against hers softly and she felt a shock run through her. Her mind was wiped of all uncertain thoughts and she kissed him back, full force. His arms wrapped around her waist, and she vaguely remembered throwing her arms around his neck. Their mouths opened, the full impact of the kiss hitting Luna head on. She felt light-headed but wasn't willing to break away from the kiss anytime soon. Draco broke away, gasping for air, and was about to dive back in but Luna turned her head slightly, stopping him. He looked at her puzzled and, although he was trying not to show it, a little hurt. Luna saw the hurt in his eyes and glanced at him apologetically before turning and walking quickly in the opposite direction.


	14. Chapter 14

Luna was trying her best to avoid Draco. She couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that she'd kissed Draco Malfoy... and liked it. Luna sat at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall for the first time in months. She usually would either eat outside or at the Gryffindor table with her only friends. Today though, she'd rather be alone with her thoughts.

"Hi Luna," Donec said, sitting beside her.

Luna looked at him, slightly confused. Why was he sitting with her? She was the weird girl that no one liked and he was the popular guy that every girl wanted... it was probably a dare or something.

"Hello," she replied airily, "you know, you don't have to sit with me. I haven't quite figured out if you're talking to me out of pity or some dare but either way, you don't have to bother."

Donec looked confused, "I'm sitting here because I want to sit next to you... not out of pity or a dare," he said. He seemed like he was being honest but he might just be a good actor.

"Oh. Why?" Luna asked curiously.

"Because I like you, your pretty cool when you're not talking about made up creatures."

"Actually-"Luna cut herself off. Now was not the time to tell Donec that Nargles and Crumple-Horned Snorcacks do exist.

Donec cleared his throat awkwardly, "can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can, I might not answer you but feel free to ask."

"What's really going on between you and Malfoy?"

Luna bit her lip. Great, he'd asked exactly what she didn't want to talk about, "Nothing."

"I've seen you two talking. Everyone's wondering if you two are in a secret relationship or not. What's really going on between you and Malfoy?" He asked again.

"I told you, nothing is going on between me and Malfoy! When we went into the empty classroom that one time it was because he was threatening to prank me! Then he did so I pranked back and we agreed that it wasn't worth it, whenever we talk now, it's just to remind each other that we aren't total enemies anymore!" Luna exclaimed, trying to tell herself the same thing although she knew it wasn't true.

"Okay, okay," Donec said, holding his hands up in surrender, "so there's absolutely no chemistry between you and Malfoy?"

Luna did the only thing she could do, she lied, "None at all."

"So you wouldn't mind then, if I did this," Donec said, his lips brushing softly against hers. Luna's heart skipped a beat and she stared at him in shock.

Donec blushed slightly and wouldn't look her in the eye, "Sorry... I shouldn't have done that..."

Luna tried to form words but couldn't so instead she reached for his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. He examined her face, trying to find any hint that she might feel the same way. Luna smiled, hoping she looked like the kiss meant more to her than it really did. Of course she was happy that he kissed her, he was such a better choice than Draco but... when Donec kissed her she hadn't felt the same jolt that she'd felt while kissing Draco. Luna had to admit that although she wished it wasn't the case, she'd enjoyed her kiss with Draco a lot more. Maybe it was because she'd kissed him longer... Donec had only given her a quick peck on the lips. Perhaps, if she could manage to get Donec alone, she could find out who was really the better kisser.

Donec smiled at her but she could tell it was forced, "You don't feel the same way...do you?"

"No! I do, I just... you just surprised me that's all," Luna assured him. She'd liked Donec since second year, so why was she being so hesitant now?

"A-are you sure?" He asked uncertainly.

Luna smiled, "yes. Absolutely."

Draco watched sadly from the Slytherin table. Jealousy was coursing through his veins and he felt like punching someone. He'd kissed Luna and she walked away, that had hurt as it was but then she had to go and start kissing other guys right in front of him. He stood up abruptly and left the Great Hall.

Luna saw Draco storm out of the room and instantly felt bad. Why should she feel bad? He kissed her, it wasn't her fault that she didn't feel the same way about him... she knew that was a lie but she refused to admit it to herself. Donec noticed her zoning out and raised an eyebrow. Luna tried hard to focus on him but her gaze kept drifting back to the doors that Draco had recently left through. She'd much rather be with him instead of talking to Donec but she told herself that she was having fun and tried to believe it.

"Luna, if you don't want to talk to me you don't have to," Donec sighed.

Was it that noticeable? "I do want to talk to you... I just have a lot going through my mind right now. Maybe we could do this some other time?" She asked hopefully.

Donec gave her a forced smile and said, "Sure Luna."

Luna thanked him and headed back to her dormitory to think things through. Unfortunately, Hermione and Ginny caught up to her before she could surrender herself to the deep comforts of sleep.

"Luna!" Ginny exclaimed, grabbing her arm, "what the hell happened!"

"Huh?" She questioned, utterly confused.

"Remember at that sleepover? You said you'd stay away from Malfoy, and we know you aren't," Hermione stated, looking concerned and hurt at the same time.

Luna stuttered, "I-I couldn't, he was pranking me... you helped me prank him back remember?"

"We meant talking to him as... friends, not enemies, we know you have been Luna," Ginny told her.

"How?" She asked, ashamed. Did they know about... the kiss?

Ginny bit her lip, "we heard you call a truce with him... then he started making fun of you and you left so... we followed you..." She admitted.

Luna gaped at them shocked, "you spied on me!"

Hermione jumped in, "not spy! We were worried about you... we know what Malfoy's capable of and when he followed you, we were afraid you'd get hurt..."

Luna was glad that they were worried about her but that didn't give them the right to butt into her personal life. She didn't say anything, she was too afraid of losing the only friends she'd ever had.

"Luna... you aren't mad are you?" Ginny asked hesitantly.

Luna took a deep breath and said, "of course I'm mad, Gin. You guys can't follow me around and spy on me, if I wanted you to know about me and Draco then I'd tell you."

"We're sorry, really sorry," Hermione said sincerely and Ginny nodded in agreement.

"It's okay," Luna sighed.

Hermione smiled, "so um, if you don't mind my asking... what _is _going on with you and Malfoy?"

"I heard you're on first name basis now," Ginny said.

Luna sighed again; this would be a long day.


	15. Chapter 15

Draco was in his dormitory staring at that glowing color changing ball again. He wondered for the umpteenth time, what it was. Right now it was a neon orange color. He had sent his father a letter asking what it did but he hadn't gotten a response. His thoughts turned to Luna and the ball turned an angry green color. Draco sighed in frustration and chucked the ball at the trash can across the room. It landed with a thud on the ground next to the bin. He got up to finally throw away the useless gift when he noticed a small note ad amidst the paper the ball had been wrapped in when he got it. Draco curiously picked up the note and read it.

_Dear Draco,_

_This ball will read your mood. I found it quite useful to help figure things out when I was confused about my feelings. Underneath, I've named which colors mean which mood. I really hope this helps you throughout the year._

_Sincerely, Lucius Malfoy._

Draco noted that he hadn't signed as dad. He shook that thought away and read below;

_Orange- curious_

_Red- angry_

_Green- jealous_

_Blue- sad_

_White- guilty_

_Yellow- embarrassed_

_Purple- afraid_

_Pink- in love_

Draco read the list, slightly amused. He thought back to all the times the ball had glowed. When Blaise had accused him of getting Luna pregnant it had turned red; angry. When he was trying to figure out what the ball did it had turned orange; curious. When he had just finished talking to Luna in the tree it had turned pink... in love.

Draco sighed and sat on his bed. He'd sunk to the lowest of the low; the guy who was in love with a girl who didn't love him back. Life wasn't fair. The dorm door opened and Draco was glad that it was just Blaise. He didn't think he could take listening to Crabbe or Goyle go on about some stupid prank they pulled right now.

"Hey," Blaise said, flopping onto his bed.

"What's up?" Draco asked, noticing Blaise's somber expression.

He shrugged, "Just this girl."

"Which girl?" Draco asked and the ball in his hand turned orange again.

"Calidea Puella."

Draco's jaw dropped, "What did you do?"

Calidea was the hottest Slytherin girl at Hogwarts. She was the definition of the popular, rich, snobby girl and Draco felt bad for his friend for ever getting involved with her.

"I didn't do anything... she kissed me in the common room earlier when we were talking..."

"She what! Blaise, how is that bad news!" Draco questioned incredulously.

Blaise shrugged, "I don't like her... at all."

"Well why not? She's hot, has money and is popular."

"...so? She's a total bitch and thinks she can get whatever she wants," Blaise told him, "I hate girls like that."

Suddenly, Draco was reminded of his and Luna's situation. Was this how Luna thought of him? In her eyes, he was probably the rude guy that kissed her unexpectedly and she was the girl that hated his guts. He sighed, maybe Blaise would be a better match for her. The ball turned a glowing blue and Blaise looked at it questionably.

"What's that?" He asked.

"A mood ball, I guess," Draco explained, "Dad sent it for me..."

"What's blue mean?"

"...read the note," Draco said and tossed it at him.

Blaise scanned through the note Draco's father had sent him and looked at Draco, "what's wrong? Why are you sad all of the sudden?"

Draco just shrugged, refusing to answer the question. He'd already decided that no one could know about his kiss with Luna. Apparently, there wasn't going to be a sequel to that kiss anyways so why spread the word that he tried to get Loony Lovegood... and failed.

"Just tell me, you know I won't tell anyone and you look like you need to get it off your chest," Blaise sighed.

He was right, Draco was bursting to tell someone but was too afraid of the consequences of someone knowing to even consider it.

"Fine... but you have to swear that you won't tell a soul," Draco said.

Blaise agreed and Draco told him the whole story, including the pranks, the rumours, the talks, the kiss, everything.

Blaise was shocked by the end of it, "You... and... Loony?"

Draco flushed but nodded.

Blaise looked thoughtful, "yeah, I can see it."

"Y-you can?" Draco asked hopefully.

Blaise chuckled, "definitely. You sound really excited about that, you must really like her."

Draco blushed slightly and said, "well... yeah, I do."

"Then go tell her that," Blaise said simply.

"W-what?"

"Go tell her that you really like her... before it's too late."

Draco thought about it. He was right, one hundred percent right.

"Thank you Blaise," Draco said sincerely, "you're a good friend."

Then he left the Slytherin common room to go find Luna.


	16. Chapter 16

Luna was sitting in the meadow, trying to forget about everything. She wanted to be able to let her mind wander and just take in the beauty of the meadow but all she could think about was Draco and their kiss. She sighed, wishing it would all go away. There was a noise in the bushes and Luna got up quickly, if that was Draco then she wanted to get out of there. Luna looked around for a way to get away from the meadow quickly. Draco was at the only entrance to the path and she didn't know her way through the forest but it was worth a try. She dashed into the trees, hoping to lose Draco.

Draco saw Luna run deeper into the forest. Was she stupid? The forest had all kind of dangerous creatures, not to mention it was naturally creepy... he'd had an irrational fear of the forbidden forest ever since first year when he'd been forced to have a detention in there. He couldn't let Luna go get herself killed in the forest... he bit his bottom lip nervously and chased after her.

Luna saw him chasing her and ran faster. She really didn't want to deal with him right now, he was already making her life a mess and she'd just started to figure things out. He'd just mess it all up again if she let him talk to her. She ran deeper into the forest, without really looking where she was going. Just when Luna thought she couldn't take anymore running, her foot snagged on a tree root and she fell to the ground.

Draco finally caught up to her and found her sprawled on the ground. He offered her a hand, "Need help?" He smirked.

Luna ignored his hand and stood up, "what do you want? And why were you following me?"

"Why were you running away from me?" He countered.

Luna shut her mouth. She couldn't answer that. She looked around, wondering if she could make a break to the castle but... she didn't know where the castle was.

"Draco... do you know the way back?"

Draco's face paled, "y-you don't?" He asked a note of panic in his voice.

Luna shook her head nervously, "So we're lost?"

Draco shook his head in denial, "no, we can't be lost... not in the Forbidden Forest, there's no way we can be lost in here!" Luna could clearly hear the fear in his voice now.

"Draco... it's just a forest," She said softly.

"I-I know... but if we get caught in here then we'll have detention forever," Draco said, catching himself. He didn't want to look like a wuss, especially not in front of Luna.

"The worst things that can get us in here are the nargles," Luna said.

"N-nargles?"

"Yes, although they mostly live in mistletoe. A lot of nargles are said to live in trees though, they can be very vicious."

Draco sighed in relief; these must have been another one of Luna's made up creatures. He looked around nervously; there were a lot of real creatures in here too... one's that could hurt them.

"L-Luna?" He said.

She noticed that he kept stuttering. He looked really scared and Luna wondered why he was so afraid of the forbidden forest.

"Yes?"

"Can we come up with a plan or something?"

He wanted to get out of there, Luna could tell. She could see the fear in his eyes; his hands were shaking and his bottom lip was quivering. His face was pale and his eyes were wide; he looked so much like a lost puppy that Luna couldn't help it, she hugged him.

"Don't be scared," She said, still holding him tightly.

Draco was surprised but hugged her back. Her warm touch made him momentarily forget his fears. Tears dotted his vision; not because of the forest but because he realized something; he was really in love with Luna Lovegood... and she wasn't in love with him. He hugged her tighter; afraid that this might be the last time that he got a hug from her. Eventually though, Luna pulled away. Draco wiped his tears away with his sleeve before Luna could see them.

"I'm not scared," He said although it was probably too late for that.

Luna smiled, "it's okay to be scared of things Draco everyone is."

He shrugged and Luna started trying to think of a plan. It began to once again sink in that they were in the Forbidden Forest and Draco felt panic seize his stomach. He tried to ignore it but the fear was still there.

Luna finally said, "Maybe if we head north then we'll find the way out."

Draco nodded, "which ways north?"

She pulled out her wand, laid it on her palm and said the spell, "Point me."

Her wand spun around in her hand and pointed north. The two started walking in that direction, using the wand as a compass. They walked in silence for a while. Draco was still really pale; even more pale than usual. Eventually, they came to a clearing that Luna recognized. She'd often come here to feed the Threstrals. As if they heard her thought, a group of Threstrals timidly approached them. Luna smiled and petted one, telling it softly that she had no food for them today. She was peacefully petting the young Threstral when Draco suddenly shrieked.

Luna whirled around to face him, "what!  
>"Something touched me!" Draco said, panic laced through his words. Luna saw a baby Threstral standing next to Draco and smiled. The baby rubbed its head against Draco's leg, almost like a cat. Draco screamed again and jumped away from it.<p>

"What is it!" He screamed, cowering behind Luna.

"Can't you see it?" She asked, noticing that Draco was still looking for what touched him.

Another Threstral brushed against him and he started running from the clearing screaming, "Nargles! Nargles! Get them away from me!"

Luna giggled, "Nargles aren't invisible silly, and these are Threstrals. I forgot you can't see them, can you?"

Draco stopped running but didn't come any closer, "w-what are Threstrals?"

"They pull the carriages at Hogwarts every year, you can only see them if you witnessed someone's death."

Draco stepped towards her hesitantly, "so they won't hurt us...?"

"Of course not, they're very harmless. The one that scared you so badly was just a baby, he's only about this big," Luna said, holding her hand up to her knee to show him the size of the Threstral.

Draco blushed, "oh, um," he cleared his throat, "so... you can only see them if you saw someone die?"

Luna nodded and he asked, "who'd you see die?"

She felt a pang of sadness but answered him anyway. "My mother, she died when I was nine. She was a wizard scientist, you could say, and one day... the experiment went wrong."

Draco didn't look her in the eye, "I'm so sorry."

Luna shrugged, "I miss her a lot...you wanted to know why my earrings were so important to me, it's because my mother made them for me before she died. They're one of the last things I have of her."

"Luna... I had no idea... "

"I know. How could you if I wouldn't tell you?"

Draco shrugged and took a deep breath, "so... do you want to get out of here?"

Luna nodded but paused, "You said you'd tell me your secret if I told you mine. I just told you mine, your turn."

Draco hesitated, "I...I don't know..." Blaise's words echoed through his mind. He needed to tell her, before it was too late, "Luna... this might sound pathetic but...I-I think I'm in love with you," Draco said, stumbling over his words. He couldn't look at her; as much as he wanted to know her reaction, he was afraid it would be bad. Luna hadn't made a sound. The suspense was killing him and he couldn't help it; he looked up.

Luna wore a confused expression. Then, something flickered in her eyes and before he knew what was happening, her lips crashed against his. They fell to the ground but kept kissing, Luna was laying on top of him now but he didn't release his hold on her. Draco didn't know how long they were kissing for; it could have been hours or only a few minutes. Luna stopped kissing him and laid her head on his chest. Her breathing slowed and her eyes closed. Draco held her in his arms as she slept, wondering how this had happened. Was he that irresistible? That must be it.


	17. Chapter 17

Draco woke with a start, he must have fallen asleep. Luna wasn't on top of him anymore; instead she was sprawled across the ground a few feet away from him. He looked around, suddenly alert; they weren't in the clearing with the Threstrals anymore. Panic flared up in his chest and he stood quickly. He shook Luna but she wouldn't wake up.

"Luna? L-Luna, please wake up," he said fearfully. They were even deeper in the forest than before and now it was dark. Draco didn't even want to think about what horrible creatures might come out of hiding after the sun goes down.

Finally, Luna stirred, her eyelids fluttered open and she sat up, "Draco? What's wrong?"

"Wh-where are we?" He asked nervously.

Luna stood as well and looked around, "um... how'd we get here? Weren't we just in the Threstral clearing?"

"I-I don't know... we were but... how'd we get here?" He asked, cursing his stutter. It only emerged when he was extremely nervous and he hated it.

Luna looked around nervously then something caught her eye. There was movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned quickly and screamed.

Draco shrieked and hid behind her. He didn't even know what he was screaming at but if it was enough to scare Luna then it was enough to scare him.

Luna cowered away from the giant standing before her. It looked at her quizzically, it's head tilted slightly to the side.

"You friend of Hermy?" It asked

"H-Hermy?" Luna questioned.

Draco peaked over her shoulder and screamed, seeing the giant standing before them. The giant jumped back, startled by the scream.

"Wait... do you mean Hermione?" Luna asked and the giant nodded eagerly.

"Hermy good friend," it said, "or hagid?"

"Yes, we're good friends with Hermione and Hagrid," Luna told him.

Draco was still cowering behind Luna with his eyes squeezed shut.

"My name is Luna and this is Draco," She introduced them.

"Me Grawp," the giant said, looking at them with interest.

"Nice to meet you Grawp."

"It nice to meet you too... why he scared?" Grawp asked, and before Luna could stop him, he picked Draco up.

Draco started screaming again and yelled, 'Put me down!' over and over again. Grawp just looked at him confused. Luna tried to hold back her laughter but a small giggle escaped; Draco looked like he was going to wet himself and Grawp looked like he made a new friend.

"Get me down from here! Let go of me you brute! My father will hear of this!" Draco yelled along with a few other obscenities. He still looked like he saw a ghost... or in this case a giant. Luna decided that he'd had enough.

"Grawp! Put Draco down please!"

Grawp's gaze lingered on her for a moment before releasing his grip on Draco... while he was still in the air. Draco fell a few feet to the ground, landing in a heap of dry leaves and twigs. Luna ran over to him to check if he was okay.

"Draco, are you alright?"

He grimaced in pain but nodded. Luna looked over him in concern, hoping that nothing was broken. She saw blood seeping through his shirt by his shoulder and bit her lip worriedly.

"Draco, your shoulder..."

"It's fine."

Luna shook her head, "I need to get a better look at it."

Draco shrugged then winced as the pain shot through him.

"Take off your shirt," Luna said, "I need to see the wound."

Draco tried to take his shirt off with one hand but couldn't, "...I-I can't... this arm won't move and I'm having troubles getting it off with one hand..."

"You can't move your arm?" Luna squeaked nervously.

He shook his head a glint of fear in his eyes. Luna needed to stay strong and tell him he'd be okay or he'd panic and make it worse. She tugged his shirt off, her eyes lingering on his stomach where she could clearly make out his six pack.

"Like what you see?" Draco smirked.

Luna rolled her eyes, "in your dreams."

"Oh, it will be," he said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Shut up, I'm trying to focus," she told him, examining his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, is my body distracting you?" He asked smugly.

"Actually, it's your annoying voice that's distracting me. Now if you'll kindly shut up, I might be able to fix your damned shoulder."

Grawp was watching in awe as Luna looked at the deep gash in his shoulder. It could easily be fixed with magic but she wasn't skilled enough in medical spells to attempt it without major risks. It would be better to wait until Madame Pomfry could take care of it back at the castle.

"Draco..."

"How is it?"

Luna decided to have a little fun, "It's pretty bad..."

"How bad?" He asked the panic clear in his voice.

"I'm not sure if magic can fix this... you might need to have your arm removed..."

"What!" He yelped.

"If you live that long... I can clearly see blood poisoning too."

Draco's face paled even more... if that was possible. He gulped and his whole body was shaking, "y-you can?"

Luna felt to guilty to keep the act up, "no, I'm just kidding. It can easily be fixed with magic but you'll have to wait until we get back to the castle.

Relief flooded Draco's face but was quickly replaced by anger, "why'd you say that? You scared me..."

"I know," Luna giggled, "that's the point."

Draco looked like he was going to say something but a rustling in the bushes made them both freeze. Luna watched the bushes nervously, waiting for whatever it was to emerge.  
>Luna screamed.<p> 


	18. Chapter 18

An Erkling.

Luna could clearly remember reading about them in defence against the dark arts with professor Lupin and instantly recognized its pointed face and elfish creatures. It stood no more than three feet high but Luna knew that its size was no comparison to its dangerous cackle that lured children from their guardian so it could eat them. The ministry of magic classified them as a level four dangerous being... out of five.

Luna did the only thing she could; cower behind Draco. Draco noticed how scared she was and did his best to act like he knew what he was doing. Honestly, he couldn't even remember what creature this was. The small creature launched itself at him and he shrieked, covering his face with his arms.

"Don't just stand there! Do something, or it'll eat both of us!" Luna screamed.

"Eat us!" Draco exclaimed, "what do you mean eat us!"

"I mean what I said nimrod, now kill it!"

"How!"

"I don't know, think of something!"

"Stop yelling at me!"

"I'm not yelling!"

The Erkling jumped onto Draco's head, digging its claws into his scalp. Draco screamed in pain and fear and started swiping at it with his arms while running in circles yelling, "Get it off me!"

Luna panicked and did the only thing she could think of, she threw a rock at Draco's head. I missed the Erkling and hit Draco in the side of the head. He yelped in pain and the Erkling, scared of future rocks hitting the mark, jumped off of his head.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking!" Draco questioned, holding his head where a lump was already beginning to form.

"I wasn't thinking!"

"Obviously!"

"At least it's off your head!"

"But it's still here!"

"Well then think of something!" Luna exclaimed.

"You're the Ravenclaw, you think of something!"

The Erkling jumped at them again and Luna ducked, avoiding nearly getting her eye taken out my it's sharp claws. Draco looked around for anything that might help. He picked up a thick branch that had fallen from a tree and held it baseball bat style. The creature jumped at him and he swung with all of his might, hitting the Erkling square in the head. It fell a few feet away, whimpering slightly. Draco watched it cautiously, branch still raised. The Erkling looked at them and ran in the other direction. Draco sighed and tossed the branch away.

"That was amazing!" Luna exclaimed and pulled him into a quick hug.

"I know," Draco said proudly, puffing out his chest a little.

Luna looked confused, "wait a second...why didn't we just use our wands...?"

Draco smacked himself on the forehead with his palm, "stupid, stupid, stupid..."

"You're not stupid," Luna said.

"I know. I'm calling you stupid, you're supposed to be a bloody Ravenclaw after all, why didn't you think of that five minutes ago!"

Luna crossed her arms, "you didn't think of it either so don't blame me!"

"Yes, but you're supposed to be the smart one!"

"At least I knew what type of creature we were battling and you're a year ahead of me!"

Draco flushed, "whatever, can we please just find our way back to the castle?"

"Gladly," Luna huffed. Draco was so bipolar; one minute he was a sweet, nice guy and the next he was the guy whose sole purpose seemed to be making others miserable. She sighed, why couldn't anything be simple?


	19. Chapter 19

Christmas was fast approaching and Luna could see the change in the air. Even if it weren't for all of the decorations, you'd be able to tell by the carefree looks and spirited happiness seen around the castle that Christmas was coming. Luna skipped down to the dungeons and sat in her usual potions seat. Her class was made up by an uneven amount of students so Luna sat alone. Lately, Donec had been coming over to talk to her before class and sometimes even sat with her in other classes but most of the time she sat alone. Professor Snape entered the classroom followed by small girl that Luna had never seen before. The girl sat next to Luna and smiled brightly at her.

"This is Ashley Mckenzie," Snape told the class, "she's new so treat her nicely."

Luna smiled at Ashley, "Hello, I'm Luna Lovegood."

Ashley gaped, "Lovegood? As in Xenophilius' daughter? The author of the Quibler?" She questioned.

Luna nodded, wondering if she was once again going to be mocked for her and her father's beliefs.

"I love the Quibler!" Ashley exclaimed, "its full of such useful information! Did you know that Cornelius Fudge eats goblins in his pies?"

Luna nodded happily, "he gave up on that though after the publicity got bad."

At diner in the Great Hall, Draco decided to bring up the subject of last night. He made sure that Crabbe and Goyle weren't listening because those idiots would surely tell the whole school and if Blaise was hesitant of telling him alone then he definitely wouldn't spill with those losers around.

He sat next to Blaise and smirked, "so, did you miss me while I was putting away my books?"

Blaise blushed, "No."

"Uh huh," Draco teased, "so what was with yesterday? You were acting really weird..."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Blaise," Draco said looking at him.

Blaise looked back at him for so long that it was starting to creep Draco out then he averted his gaze and mumbled, "It was nothing."

Draco didn't believe his friend. He knew Blaise and this wasn't normal behaviour for him.

"Seriously dude, what's up?"

"I told you it's nothing," he said, sounding a little annoyed.

Draco looked at him sceptically, "you sure?"

"Just... girl trouble, nothing to worry about," He told him and went back to eating.

Draco glanced worriedly at Blaise one more time then allowed his gaze to fall on the pretty little blonde sitting at the Ravenclaw table. A smile danced across his lips as he watched Luna talk happily with another girl. If it had been any other Ravenclaw, Draco would have gone over there and kiss her full on the lips. He took his reputation into account though and decided on watching from afar.

Luna smiled joyfully. Ashley was great; she was the friend that Luna had been wishing she had for the six years she'd gone to Hogwarts. Ashley had transferred from Intetrum, a Canadian school of witchcraft and wizardry. She was muggleborn and her parents had to move for her father's work so she had to transfer magical schools which was highly unusual.

"I didn't like it at Intetrum anyways, I didn't have any friends and the teachers there were really mean," Ashley told her.

"Oh well it's a good thing that your father had to work here then isn't it?"

She nodded brightly and whispered, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Luna wondered if Draco counted as a boyfriend... he did tell her that he liked her... and kissed her but... she didn't think he would want her telling people that anyways. Luna sighed, "no, why?"

"Because," She whispered smiling, "that hot Slytherin boy has been staring at you and smiling for the past ten minutes!"

Luna didn't even have to look to know who she was talking about but she looked anyways, "who, Dr-Malfoy?"

"Dr-Malfoy?" She asked an amused smirk pasted on her pretty features, "either he has a really weird name or you were going to call him something else but stopped yourself."

Luna sighed, "His name is Draco Malfoy."

"Well Luna, I believe that this Draco Malfoy has a thing for you," She grinned.

"I already knew that," Luna said before she could stop herself.

Ashley looked at her confused, "I thought you said you don't have a boyfriend...?"

"I don't... we're not... official, I guess is the right word..."

"Oh. His friends pretty hot too," Ashley said, losing interest in the conversation.

Luna looked next to Draco. He was sitting with his usual group of friends and Luna guessed that Ashley wasn't talking about Crabbe or Goyle, "Blaise? Yeah, a lot of girls like him."

Ashley nodded, "are you done eating? I'm bored, let's go for a walk."

Luna agreed and followed her out of the Great Hall. She saw Draco's eyes following her as she left and a smile crept onto her face. Before she walked into the corridor, she let her eyes meet his. He smiled sheepishly, realizing that he'd been caught but Luna just winked and left the room with Ashley, the image of Draco's eyes widening and jaw dropping still fresh in her mind.


	20. Chapter 20

Christmas was fast approaching and Luna could see the change in the air. Even if it weren't for all of the decorations, you'd be able to tell by the carefree looks and spirited happiness seen around the castle that Christmas was coming. Luna skipped down to the dungeons and sat in her usual potions seat. Her class was made up by an uneven amount of students so Luna sat alone. Lately, Donec had been coming over to talk to her before class and sometimes even sat with her in other classes but most of the time she sat alone. Professor Snape entered the classroom followed by small girl that Luna had never seen before. The girl sat next to Luna and smiled brightly at her.

"This is Ashley Mckenzie," Snape told the class, "she's new so treat her nicely."

Luna smiled at Ashley, "Hello, I'm Luna Lovegood."

Ashley gaped, "Lovegood? As in Xenophilius' daughter? The author of the Quibler?" She questioned.

Luna nodded, wondering if she was once again going to be mocked for her and her father's beliefs.

"I love the Quibler!" Ashley exclaimed, "its full of such useful information! Did you know that Cornelius Fudge eats goblins in his pies?"

Luna nodded happily, "he gave up on that though after the publicity got bad."

At diner in the Great Hall, Draco decided to bring up the subject of last night. He made sure that Crabbe and Goyle weren't listening because those idiots would surely tell the whole school and if Blaise was hesitant of telling him alone then he definitely wouldn't spill with those losers around.

He sat next to Blaise and smirked, "so, did you miss me while I was putting away my books?"

Blaise blushed, "No."

"Uh huh," Draco teased, "so what was with yesterday? You were acting really weird..."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Blaise," Draco said looking at him.

Blaise looked back at him for so long that it was starting to creep Draco out then he averted his gaze and mumbled, "It was nothing."

Draco didn't believe his friend. He knew Blaise and this wasn't normal behaviour for him.

"Seriously dude, what's up?"

"I told you it's nothing," he said, sounding a little annoyed.

Draco looked at him sceptically, "you sure?"

"Just... girl trouble, nothing to worry about," He told him and went back to eating.

Draco glanced worriedly at Blaise one more time then allowed his gaze to fall on the pretty little blonde sitting at the Ravenclaw table. A smile danced across his lips as he watched Luna talk happily with another girl. If it had been any other Ravenclaw, Draco would have gone over there and kiss her full on the lips. He took his reputation into account though and decided on watching from afar.

Luna smiled joyfully. Ashley was great; she was the friend that Luna had been wishing she had for the six years she'd gone to Hogwarts. Ashley had transferred from Intetrum, a Canadian school of witchcraft and wizardry. She was muggleborn and her parents had to move for her father's work so she had to transfer magical schools which was highly unusual.

"I didn't like it at Intetrum anyways, I didn't have any friends and the teachers there were really mean," Ashley told her.

"Oh well it's a good thing that your father had to work here then isn't it?"

She nodded brightly and whispered, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Luna wondered if Draco counted as a boyfriend... he did tell her that he liked her... and kissed her but... she didn't think he would want her telling people that anyways. Luna sighed, "no, why?"

"Because," She whispered smiling, "that hot Slytherin boy has been staring at you and smiling for the past ten minutes!"

Luna didn't even have to look to know who she was talking about but she looked anyways, "who, Dr-Malfoy?"

"Dr-Malfoy?" She asked an amused smirk pasted on her pretty features, "either he has a really weird name or you were going to call him something else but stopped yourself."

Luna sighed, "His name is Draco Malfoy."

"Well Luna, I believe that this Draco Malfoy has a thing for you," She grinned.

"I already knew that," Luna said before she could stop herself.

Ashley looked at her confused, "I thought you said you don't have a boyfriend...?"

"I don't... we're not... official, I guess is the right word..."

"Oh. His friends pretty hot too," Ashley said, losing interest in the conversation.

Luna looked next to Draco. He was sitting with his usual group of friends and Luna guessed that Ashley wasn't talking about Crabbe or Goyle, "Blaise? Yeah, a lot of girls like him."

Ashley nodded, "are you done eating? I'm bored, let's go for a walk."

Luna agreed and followed her out of the Great Hall. She saw Draco's eyes following her as she left and a smile crept onto her face. Before she walked into the corridor, she let her eyes meet his. He smiled sheepishly, realizing that he'd been caught but Luna just winked and left the room with Ashley, the image of Draco's eyes widening and jaw dropping still fresh in her mind.


	21. Chapter 21

"Has he ever told you that you were beautiful?" Ashley asked, pacing in the small space of the dormitory.

"Yes," Luna automatically answered.

"Does he tell you it enough?"

She hesitated; Luna wasn't the type of girl that needed to be told she was pretty every half hour but she would admit that it was nice to be complimented once and a while. Contrary to what everyone seemed to think, Luna wanted to feel pretty. Draco had told her that she was beautiful once or twice in the last few months but Luna yearned for something more... she wanted someone that would tell her she was beautiful even when she had just woken up, she wanted someone that wouldn't be afraid to be seen with her... she wanted Draco to call her his girlfriend.

Ashley took her silence as a yes and continued without an answer, "You are beautiful Luna, look at yourself! Flawless skin, perfect hair, I can only wish that I was as pretty as you," She told Luna sincerely.

Luna shook her head, a small smile dancing on her lips, "you are beautiful Ashley... I know I'm pretty but beautiful? Not so much."

Ashley rolled her eyes, "yeah, okay. If you don't feel beautiful then there's something wrong. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be proud to show the world the beauty that is Luna Lovegood."

Luna couldn't help but wonder if that could actually happen. The way Ashley said it made it seem like an actual possibility, not just a hopeless dream that crept into another of Luna's restful sleeps. She looked at her reflection once more in the large mirror hanging from the wall in front of her, was it possible that Ashley could make her beautiful?

"You're not talking much Luna... I'll take that as a good thing, I'm hoping you're considering this because I think it'll be a good thing and Gin and 'Mione both think so too."

"What!" Luna questioned, "You got Ginny and Hermione in on this?"

Ashley nodded, "Ginny and I were talking the other night and as far as I can tell, she's a style expert. Hermione... well, she's really pretty and is good at making herself look beautiful in the morning but she'll probably just watch..."

Luna sighed; Ginny was in on this, there was no getting out of it now. Ashley had been planning this make-over for weeks. Everyday she'd go on and on about how she couldn't wait for the make-over and Luna would just nod and agree, assuming that it would never actually happen. Well, it was happening and she had absolutely no idea how to tell Ashley that she didn't _want_ a make-over.

"They're on their way up with the supplies!" Ashley told her happily.

Luna gaped at her. It was happening _now_! As if summoned by thoughts, Hermione and Ginny burst into the room, both with huge grins on their faces and armfuls of makeup and hair equipment. Luna's eyes widened as she took in everything. This was going to be a hell of a make-over.

Luna looked at herself in the mirror for the millionth time; a permanent smile lighting up her face. Luckily, she didn't look like the clown she somehow imagined she'd resemble. The girls hadn't put on a lot of makeup, choosing to instead go for the natural look. They had curled her hair in large ringlets that fell down her back in beautiful blonde waves and chosen an outfit that all of the girls deemed 'normal'. Luna preferred her choice of clothing but she had to agree that this definitely looked better. The only thing that she was wearing that made her seem of the least abnormal was her earrings. Those she wouldn't take off, no matter how much the girls begged her.

"Now, for the great unveiling," Ashley said with an over exaggerated hand movement. She practically dragged Luna down the stairs and into the Great Hall. At first, Luna felt like a complete idiot. That is, until the heads began to turn and the mouths dropped open. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing but judging by the glint in the boy's eyes and the poorly hidden jealousy in the girls, it was a good thing. Her eyes almost instinctively found Draco's and her lips turned up in a smile when she saw him. He was staring at her with a strange look in his eyes; Luna couldn't quite place her finger on it. It seemed to be a mixture of shock, happiness and longing but there was something else there, a hard glint merged well with the other soft feelings. She was so lost in Draco's eyes that she didn't notice that a small group had crowded around her.

"Luna, you look really pretty today," a Hufflepuff boy whom she didn't know by name told her shyly.

Another nameless boy stepped out from the crowd, "Do you maybe want to eat with me, Luna?"

Zack Martinez, a boy in her grade spoke up bluntly, "will you go out with me?"

Luna's jaw dropped as she took in her little group of admirers and she looked once more at Draco. There was a new feeling overwhelming the earlier ones now; fear. Fear of losing her to someone else, Luna realized with a start. That's when it hit her; the feeling she'd seen earlier was clearer now.

Determination; Draco was determined to win over her love before it was stolen away.


	22. Chapter 22

Luna was in her dormitory, removing all of the make-up the girls had applied to her face. She liked the attention her new look had brought her but she still couldn't shake the feeling that her classmates only talked to her because of her looks. _That's because it's true,_ she thought bitterly and finished wiping the make-up off her face. Luna was in her pajamas, her hair tied in a messy ponytail, ready for bed. Just as she was about to lie down and attempt to fall asleep, which was proving very difficult nowadays, when she heard yelling coming from the corridor outside the Ravenclaw common room.

Luna curiously walked down to the common room and listened at the entrance.

"How am I supposed to know that!" Luna recognized Draco's voice instantly.

"If you don't know, then you are not welcome here," the eagle door-knocker's light airy voice replied.

"Well why not? I need to see someone!"

"It has a golden head, it has a golden tail, but it hasn't got a body, what is it?" the door-knocker asked, "Find the answer and you shall be allowed to pass."

Luna suppressed a giggled; she could practically hear the wheels in Draco's brain turning. She heard him groan in frustration and decided to help him out. She opened the door and said, "It's a golden coin, you can come in now Draco."

He grinned sheepishly at her and she felt her heart pound in her chest. She'd noticed before but it just now really hit her how cute Draco was. His blonde hair was messy, as if he'd just gotten out of bed but flopped into place with a quick shake of his head. Luna suddenly had a strong urge to run her fingers through his hair but refrained herself. He looked her in the eyes and she noticed that his usually cold, icy blue eyes held a warm and apologetic expression.

"Um...are you going to let me in?" Draco asked a little nervously.

Luna nodded and stepped aside, holding the door open wide so Draco could step into the Ravenclaw common room. Everyone stopped and stared as Draco entered and Luna saw his eyes flick anxiously around the room. She could tell by the facial expression he wore that he was debating doing something. Luna curiously wondered what was on his mind but only for a few minutes.

_Do it you idiot! _

But they'll all see...

_You didn't come all the way up here to stand around like a moron!_

I didn't come here to ruin my social life either.

_Technically, you did. But don't worry about that, worry about what will happen if you don't do it._

The consequences were too high. He couldn't lose her. Draco cut off his mental argument with himself and turned to Luna, trying to ignore the people starring.

He took her hand.

Draco didn't turn around to see the look of shock on some people's faces, he didn't listen to the couple 'oohs' that were shouted by random people, he didn't take notice of the few brave comments telling him to get his skinny Slytherin ass out of their common room, he didn't care. Draco Malfoy didn't care. Something about that made him smile.

He leaned close to Luna so that his lips softly brushed her ear as he spoke, "You look beautiful," he whispered causing a blush to creep onto Luna's face. She wasn't dressed up and didn't have make-up covering her face, she was dressed for bed and he'd still called her beautiful. She wanted to kiss him, full on the mouth then and there but she had to know something first.

Softly, Luna asked just one question, "Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

Without any hesitation Draco answered, "I've known the answer to that question for a long time but I was too afraid of losing my reputation. I'm not afraid anymore, Luna. Yes."

With that, Draco leaned in and gently kissed her, in front of all those people. It was only lasted for a second but the meaning behind it was clear; Draco was done hiding, he was ready to face the world holding Luna's hand all the way. Luna smiled.

The common room was eerily quiet. No one moved or spoke, as if waiting for Luna to freak out and slap Draco or something. Instead she said so everyone could hear, "I love you too."

Draco's heart stopped. He'd told her that he loved her but if he remembered correctly, she hadn't said it back... until now. He was slightly aware of the shocked looks on the people now crowded around them but he didn't care. All that mattered was that he was here, holding the hand of the girl he loved and that she loved him back. She loved him back! Nothing and no one could ruin this moment... not even the bounding ball of energy that rushed up to Luna and enveloped her in what looked like a suffocating hug, separating her from Draco. That ball of energy was named Ashley.

"Can't. Breath," Luna said, pushing Ashley away.

Ashley grinned, unfazed and said excitedly, and rather loudly, "Oh my god Luna! You have a boyfriend! A hot boyfriend too!"

"Shut up Ash!" Luna blushed, seeing Draco smirk from the corner of her eye, "No need to make his head any bigger than it already is."

Not even her insults could erase the seemingly permanent smile glued on Draco's face. Luna smiled at him as Ashley went on and on about how excited she was. Draco walked over to them and said softly to Luna, "I'm going to go back to my dorm and let you two talk..."

Luna nodded looking a little disappointed, "alright, goodnight Draco."

"Goodnight beautiful," Draco wondered if he should have added the beautiful comment... what if she thought he was moving too fast? All doubt was erased when he saw Luna beam at him and he headed back to his dorm with a spring in his step. Life was good.


	23. Chapter 23

"You what!" Ginny and Hermione exclaimed in unison.

"I said yes," Luna replied calmly, ignoring their shocked expressions.

"B-but why?" Ginny managed to stutter out.

"Because I love him... I know you two don't like Draco much but he's actually a great guy."

"A great guy? Did you really just call Draco Malfoy a great guy?" Hermione questioned, baffled by what possible reasons Luna could have for dating him.

"Yes, yes I did. Why can't you two open your minds a little?" Luna huffed, crossing her arms.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Luna, he's the biggest jerk in the school, if you think he's a 'great guy' then obviously he's tricking you for some reason. Do you not remember the prank war? Malfoy would never let you get the last prank, this is probably his retaliation; breaking your heart."

"I trust him..."

"Well don't," Hermione intervened, "He's nothing but a lying, arrogant git that cares about nothing but himself."

Luna's hands curled into tiny fists as she looked at her 'friends' in anger, "You're supposed to be my friends, a real friend would be supportive!"

Hermione's gaze softened, "Luna-"

"No 'Mione," Ginny interrupted, "Luna's right. A real friend would be supportive; maybe we aren't her real friends."

Hermione goggled at Ginny, "what? But-"

Once again, Ginny interrupted her, "Save it. I'm out of here." With that, Ginny stormed from the room.

Hermione looked between Luna and the door that Ginny had just slammed shut with a torn expression on her pretty features.

"Go," Luna said softly, "I know you want to follow Ginny so just go."

Hermione looked at her apologetically, "Luna, don't listen to Gin, she's incredibly stubborn and once she gets her mind stuck on something well... it's hard to get it unstuck."

Luna shrugged, not saying anything.

Hermione looked at her sadly one more time then followed Ginny. Luna sighed and headed down to the Great Hall, hoping that the rest of the day wouldn't be as awful as the morning.

"Loony Lovegood."

"I think he's gone mad."

"Maybe her madness rubbed off on him."

Whispers rippled through the Slytherin common room, hitting Draco like flaming daggers. It took all of his self control to not smack the fourth years talking over their heads.

He had been going down to the Great Hall for breakfast but he hadn't taken two steps outside his dorm before the rumours and gossip had hit him like a tsunami of insults and lies. His dormitory was looking pretty good right about now.

"Back off maggots," Blaise growled, walking up behind him.

The fourth years quickly shut up and dispersed, afraid of the towering seventh year threatening them.

"Thanks Blaise," Draco muttered, turning around, "I think I'm just going to go back to bed."

"No you're not," Blaise said, grabbing his arm, "you're going to go down to the Great Hall and face the music."

Draco sighed, "But why?" He whined.

"Because I'll bet you a million dollars that Luna's down there waiting for you and I'm not going to let you break her heart Draco."

Draco nodded; he knew what he had to do. The two walked down to the Great Hall but walked right by the Slytherin table. Blaise was coming for support which Draco greatly appreciated; they headed over to the Ravenclaw table and took a seat next to Luna and Ashley.

"Hi Draco," Luna chirped happily, ignoring the stares and rude remarks from her classmates.

"Hey," Draco smiled, giving her a kiss of the cheek. He was still getting used to this boyfriend thing... he was more of the kiss and ditch type and this was his first serious relationship.

"Well hello there," Ashley winked flirtatiously at Blaise.

Blaise fidgeted in his seat uncomfortably, "urm, hey," he mumbled, inching away from her.

"What's with all of the Slytherin's being so damn hot?"

Luna rolled her eyes at Ashley, a smile playing on her lips. Draco looked at Blaise in concern; he knew that his friend didn't want to come out of the closet yet and that he was too kind to turn Ashley down without a reason. Draco would have to help him come up with a reason later...

Blaise blushed and gave her a small smile, "I know, it's a blessing and a curse," he said, a little bitterly.

"Okay Ash, let Blaise be," Luna grinned at her friend, "there'll be lots of time to flirt later but right now, spare Draco and I please."

Ashley giggled and Blaise looked to Draco for help. Draco just shrugged, unsure of what he could do. This Ashley thing could be a problem...


	24. Chapter 24

"You what!" Ginny and Hermione exclaimed in unison.

"I said yes," Luna replied calmly, ignoring their shocked expressions.

"B-but why?" Ginny managed to stutter out.

"Because I love him... I know you two don't like Draco much but he's actually a great guy."

"A great guy? Did you really just call Draco Malfoy a great guy?" Hermione questioned, baffled by what possible reasons Luna could have for dating him.

"Yes, yes I did. Why can't you two open your minds a little?" Luna huffed, crossing her arms.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Luna, he's the biggest jerk in the school, if you think he's a 'great guy' then obviously he's tricking you for some reason. Do you not remember the prank war? Malfoy would never let you get the last prank, this is probably his retaliation; breaking your heart."

"I trust him..."

"Well don't," Hermione intervened, "He's nothing but a lying, arrogant git that cares about nothing but himself."

Luna's hands curled into tiny fists as she looked at her 'friends' in anger, "You're supposed to be my friends, a real friend would be supportive!"

Hermione's gaze softened, "Luna-"

"No 'Mione," Ginny interrupted, "Luna's right. A real friend would be supportive; maybe we aren't her real friends."

Hermione goggled at Ginny, "what? But-"

Once again, Ginny interrupted her, "Save it. I'm out of here." With that, Ginny stormed from the room.

Hermione looked between Luna and the door that Ginny had just slammed shut with a torn expression on her pretty features.

"Go," Luna said softly, "I know you want to follow Ginny so just go."

Hermione looked at her apologetically, "Luna, don't listen to Gin, she's incredibly stubborn and once she gets her mind stuck on something well... it's hard to get it unstuck."

Luna shrugged, not saying anything.

Hermione looked at her sadly one more time then followed Ginny. Luna sighed and headed down to the Great Hall, hoping that the rest of the day wouldn't be as awful as the morning.

"Loony Lovegood."

"I think he's gone mad."

"Maybe her madness rubbed off on him."

Whispers rippled through the Slytherin common room, hitting Draco like flaming daggers. It took all of his self control to not smack the fourth years talking over their heads.

He had been going down to the Great Hall for breakfast but he hadn't taken two steps outside his dorm before the rumours and gossip had hit him like a tsunami of insults and lies. His dormitory was looking pretty good right about now.

"Back off maggots," Blaise growled, walking up behind him.

The fourth years quickly shut up and dispersed, afraid of the towering seventh year threatening them.

"Thanks Blaise," Draco muttered, turning around, "I think I'm just going to go back to bed."

"No you're not," Blaise said, grabbing his arm, "you're going to go down to the Great Hall and face the music."

Draco sighed, "But why?" He whined.

"Because I'll bet you a million dollars that Luna's down there waiting for you and I'm not going to let you break her heart Draco."

Draco nodded; he knew what he had to do. The two walked down to the Great Hall but walked right by the Slytherin table. Blaise was coming for support which Draco greatly appreciated; they headed over to the Ravenclaw table and took a seat next to Luna and Ashley.

"Hi Draco," Luna chirped happily, ignoring the stares and rude remarks from her classmates.

"Hey," Draco smiled, giving her a kiss of the cheek. He was still getting used to this boyfriend thing... he was more of the kiss and ditch type and this was his first serious relationship.

"Well hello there," Ashley winked flirtatiously at Blaise.

Blaise fidgeted in his seat uncomfortably, "urm, hey," he mumbled, inching away from her.

"What's with all of the Slytherin's being so damn hot?"

Luna rolled her eyes at Ashley, a smile playing on her lips. Draco looked at Blaise in concern; he knew that his friend didn't want to come out of the closet yet and that he was too kind to turn Ashley down without a reason. Draco would have to help him come up with a reason later...

Blaise blushed and gave her a small smile, "I know, it's a blessing and a curse," he said, a little bitterly.

"Okay Ash, let Blaise be," Luna grinned at her friend, "there'll be lots of time to flirt later but right now, spare Draco and I please."

Ashley giggled and Blaise looked to Draco for help. Draco just shrugged, unsure of what he could do. This Ashley thing could be a problem...


	25. Chapter 25

"Dracoooooo, are you _really_ going out with that Loony girl or are you just trying to break her heart to make up for all of the crap she put you through? Because that's what _I_ would do," Pansy drawled in her annoying squeaky voice.

"I like _Luna_, Pansy and I'm not going to break her heart. Now can you please move?" Draco asked impatiently. Pansy had cornered him in the corridor and started questioning him about Luna.

Pansy pouted, "B-but... I thought we had a thing..."

"What thing?" Draco sighed, "There was never a thing Pansy."

"What about all we've been through?"

"We haven't been through anything! Please just get over it."

"One last kiss?" Pansy asked sweetly.  
>"One last kiss...? When was there a first one?"<p>

Pansy rolled her eyes, "fine then. Will you at least hang out with me at lunch?"

Draco looked at her uncertainly, "depends. What are you planning on doing at lunch?"

"What do you think? Eating."

"...Fine, I'll hang out with you at lunch," he agreed, anxious to get away from her.

Her face brightened, "Okay! Meet me in the spare classroom by the Great Hall at lunch. Bye bye Draco," She cooed, walking away from him happily.

_What a weirdo..._ Draco thought, wondering why he ever thought that she was cooler than Luna. He shrugged and headed to class.

Pansy skipped class that day. She was too busy in the girl's lavatory, brewing a special philtre (a potion made to enchant or charm the drinker). The ingredients were simple and the process was rather easy for potions. When she was finished the love potion, she bottled it and headed to the spare classroom to get things ready.

At lunch, Draco reluctantly headed to the spare classroom to meet Pansy. She greeted him with a smile and ran her fingers up his arm seductively. Draco shrugged her off of him. He saw the disappointment through her seductive smirk but ignored it.

"I'm glad you came, Draco, I got us a special treat," she smiled and held up a bottle of firewhiskey.

He eyes the bottle suspiciously, "isn't firewhiskey banned from Hogwarts?"

She nodded, her easy expression never leaving her features. He grinned impishly and held out his hand for the bottle but she shook her head.

"I already poured them," Pansy told him, reaching for two goblets.

She handed him one but he shook it away, "I want the other one."

"Suit yourself," she shrugged and handed him hers. Draco figured if she was going to drink it then there was nothing wrong with it so he took a careful sip, the burning sensation tingling on his lips. What Draco didn't notice was the unusually sweet yet spicy tang of the drink. He couldn't have noticed since this was his first time drinking firewhiskey; although he'd never tell Pansy that. After watching Draco drain the glass, Pansy looked at him expectantly, a small smile playing on her lips. He smiled at her and put the glass down, no change in his attitude. Pansy's smile faltered; had the potion not worked?

"I have to get to class," Draco said and waved, "see ya around Pansy."

"Um... bye," she squeaked, utterly disappointed and frustrated at herself. How could the potion not work? She brewed it exactly as the instructions said! After puzzling for a while over what could have gone wrong, Pansy decided to check the book that the recipe was in. As she carefully scanned the page, one thing stood out that she hadn't noticed before... one thing that ruined her chances and most likely, Draco's relationship with Luna. In small print near the bottom of the page it read:

'_This potion will take an hour or so to take effect.'_


	26. Chapter 26

Draco was walking to his dorm when someone bumped into him. He turned around to glare at whoever it was that had the nerve to bump into Draco Malfoy without so much as an apology, when his heart stopped.

"Harry Potter..." he breathed, not meaning for anyone to hear.

Harry heard however and turned to face him, "yes Malfoy?"

Suddenly, Draco felt butterflies in his stomach... something he'd only felt when with Luna. He tried to make the strange sensation stop but it refused and he was stuck gaping at Harry wordlessly. Harry cocked an eyebrow and looked at him expectantly, waiting for Draco to talk. When he didn't, Harry gave him a weird look and left, leaving Draco staring at his retreating figure in wonder. Half of him was wondering why these instantaneous feelings appeared as soon as he had seen Harry and the other half of him was wondering why he couldn't take his eyes off of him.

Draco shook these thoughts away and headed to his dorm, trying not to think of how cute it was when Harry's hair flopped over his eyes. By the time he got to the Slytherin common room, he was worried about his thoughts. Since the brief meeting, he couldn't get his mind off of Potter. He was just considering going to find Luna to straighten out his head when Blaise walked up to him.

"Blaise... can I talk to you about something... private?" Draco asked quietly.

Blaise nodded curiously and headed to the dorm. Draco sat on his bed and, avoiding Blaise's eyes asked, "How did you find out that you were gay?"

Blaise looked taken aback but answered nonetheless, "well... I don't know... I guess I've always liked guys but I just didn't accept it until up to a little while ago."

"But how did you know that you liked guys...? Was there ever a girl that you might have liked?"

"No... Not that I can think of, if there was then she was nothing more than a friend. I've just never been attracted to girls."

Draco nodded thoughtfully, not saying anything.

"Why?" Blaise questioned.

"N-no reason," Draco stuttered, feeling the blood creep up his cheeks.

Blaise cocked his head to the side thoughtfully and said, "Do you have feelings for a guy...?"

"Um... I-I... no," Draco decided, shutting out all the thoughts in his head about Harry, "just curious."

Blaise didn't buy it. "Just come find me when you're ready to talk about it," Blaise said, getting up. Draco stood quickly and rushed out of the dorm, looking for Luna. He was straight, he knew he was.

Pansy had watched fretfully as Draco had talked to Harry a few hours before. After waiting around an hour for the potion to take effect, Pansy had gone looking for him in hopes that she may still have a chance. As she was approaching Draco, she saw him bump into Harry Potter and had watched as the love potion took effect. Pansy felt bad for poor Draco... he was going to be in love with Harry Potter for the next week or so... After watching it all unfold, Pansy had rushed back to her dorm to think of a new plan to gain Draco's love.

"Hey Draco, what's up-" Luna was cut off as Draco lips met hers rather forcefully. When he finally pulled away from the kiss she looked at him concerned, "what happened?"

She knew him so well. "I-I don't want to talk about it..." Draco said slowly.

Luna nodded understandingly and gave him another quick peck on the lips, "you know I'm here if you decide that you want to talk. I won't judge you."

Draco smiled gratefully at her. Luna could tell just by the quaver in his voice that he was battling against himself... and losing. She wanted to help but she wasn't going to question him about it because he looked like he really didn't want to talk about it.

Draco wrapped his arms loosely around her waist. When he was with Luna, he felt like himself again, all thoughts of Harry set aside. He knew that eventually, he would have to face this inner turmoil but for now, he was happy to lose his thoughts in Luna's sweet kisses.


	27. Chapter 27

_He was so close to me; I felt my heart pounding in my chest and tried with great difficulty to control my breathing. He looked into my eyes and I wanted more than anything to just lean in and close the gap between us. Before I could, Harry leaned in his soft lips just barley brushing mine before... a loud banging sound emitted from behind me and Harry froze where he was. I yearned to press my lips against his and fill that gap in my heart that had been bothering me for a long time now but the noise somehow stopped me. It got louder and louder until..._

"Wake up!"

Draco snapped awake and abruptly sat up, scowling at Blaise who had woken him from a sweet yet... disturbing dream.

"What do you want?" Draco snapped.

"I've been trying to wake you for the last fifteen minutes but you just kept sleeping, muttering something about wanting to close the gap...? What's that about?"

"It's none of your business, now why were you trying to wake me?"

Blaise raised an eyebrow, "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed... I was trying to wake you because class starts in ten minutes and you didn't seem like you were going to wake up by yourself anytime soon. Is that because you were having a good dream Draco? Seemed like it... almost seemed like you were dreaming about someone in particular..." Blaise grinned.

"W-What do you mean?" Draco questioned startled... he didn't know... he couldn't know.

"Having a dream about Luna, Draco?" Blaise teased to Draco's relief.

"Yes. Yes, that's it exactly," He said and lay back down.

Blaise looked at him confused, "You weren't dreaming about Luna were you...?"

"What? No, I was!" Draco assured hurriedly.

"No you weren't... who were you dreaming about?" Blaise questioned a small frown on his face.

Draco shrugged and muttered something unintelligible. At that moment, Crabbe and Goyle lumbered into the dormitory.

"Class starts in five, are we ditching Malfoy?" Crabbe asked looking excited... stupid idiot.

"No you idiot, I just woke up late. Now go stuff your faces while I get dressed," Draco spat disgusted.

The two left and Draco took this opportunity to start getting ready for class, changing the subject.

"Look Luna, it's your boyfriend," Ashley sang in a playful sing-songy voice.

Luna smiled, slightly embarrassed but happy all the same, "Hi Draco."

"Oh hey Luna... do me a favour and kiss me," Draco said sounding distracted.

"Um... why?"

"Does there have to be a reason? I'm your boyfriend and am in need of some love, is it too hard to give me a kiss?"

"Uh with that attitude it is," Luna responded raising an eyebrow, "Draco...what's going on? Is everything alright?"

"No! No everything is not alright! I-I just don't want to talk about it," He muttered and walked away.

Luna frowned concerned. She followed him, grabbing his arm as he walked down the corridor on his way to class.

"Let go Luna."

"Tell me what's going on."

"No."

"Why won't you tell me? You're not... reconsidering the relationship are you?" Luna asked the answer hitting her. She should have known, she just wasn't meant to be happy.

"No. Well... no. Not at all," Draco answered sounding uncertain.

Luna sighed; she knew it. "It's okay Draco..." She told him quietly, "If you want to be with another girl just say so."

"But I don't want to be with another girl... I want to be with...never mind," Draco hastily said turning away from her.

Luna looked at him confused, "You don't want to be with a girl you want to be with a... guy...?" No... Her first love couldn't turn out to be gay... that just wasn't fair.

Draco refused to look her in the eye, "I-I don't know..." He admitted.

Luna felt for him... she really did but her heart was aching to hear this. She took his hand and squeezed it gently before dropping it again, "Well I think you're going to need to figure that out."

Draco looked at her sadness and desperation reflecting in his eyes, "W-What are you saying?"

"I'm saying..." Luna looked away from him, trying to swallow the lump slowly forming in her throat, "I'm saying that maybe we should take a break until you find out what you really want..."

Draco shook his head hopelessly, his mouth gaping wordlessly.

"I'm sorry Draco..." Luna said softly, finalizing it and breaking her own heart in the process. She could practically feel the small hammer chipping away at her heart as she spoke.

"B-But Luna..."

Luna turned and ran from him, not wanting him to see her tears. She hated her life... ever since her mom died when she was nine, everything had gone wrong. No one liked her but Ashley and now the only person she'd ever loved might be gay. She just wanted to curl up in a ball and lay alone for days crying but she knew she wouldn't do that. She needed to be strong and face life like she'd always had.

Draco watched Luna leave, his bottom lip quivering slightly. What was wrong with him? He was totally straight and had been sure of it up until a few days ago... what changed? What possible force wanted to make him even more miserable than he already was? Maybe he should just give up... he'd thought about it before... maybe he should just give up life and join his parents. Draco sighed and looked upwards wondering if they knew what he was going through right now... and if they would even care if they did.

He sighed and headed to his dorm. There was no reason to go to class today... he wouldn't learn anything anyway.


	28. Chapter 28

"You what?" Ashley exclaimed when Luna told her the news.

"I broke up with him..."

"Why?"

Luna just shrugged. She knew Draco wouldn't appreciate it if she told Ashley about his uncertainties and didn't want to hurt him anymore than she already had.

"Come with me," Ashley declared, tugging Luna's sleeve.

Luna followed her into the girl's dormitory and over to Ashley's closet, "What are we doing Ash?" Luna questioned warily.

"Sit," Ashley commanded, looking through her closet.

Luna sat, cocking an eyebrow. Ashley emerged, holding a small container of chocolate ice cream and two spoons.

"Where-?" Luna trailed off as Ashley revealed the small mini fridge hidden in her closet.

"Just for emergencies," She beamed and flopped onto the bed next to Luna. Apparently, Ashley deemed this an emergency and popped open the container.

"Ashley... what are you doing?"

"I have a saying: Girl's who have crushes have dreams, girl's who have boyfriends have love, and girl's who have ex's have ice cream."

Luna couldn't help but laugh a little at her logic and didn't hesitate to dig into the chocolate treat.

"What's wrong Draco?" Blaise asked for about the millionth time.

"Nothing is wrong!"

"There's obviously something wrong..."

"Shut up Blaise! I'm busy..." Draco said, his patience running thin. He concentrated again on the instructions to the stupid little gadget he'd bought.

"What is that anyways?" Blaise asked him, standing up and stretching. They had been sitting under the tree by the lake for around an hour now trying to get Draco's contraption to work.

Draco shrugged and focused again on the little camera-like device in his hands. If he got the instructions right (which hopefully he would) it would clearly define his feelings. Then, he'd be able to tell Luna once in for all that he was sure of his love for her.

"Draco, can't we do something else for a while?" Blaise whined.

"No!" Draco snapped, irritated. A few first years walked by, muttering something about a slytherin getting dumped. Draco didn't hesitate to send curse after curse their way as they ran pitifully back to the castle. He made an effort to control his breathing and got back to work on the device.

Blaise raised an eyebrow and got up silently walking away.

"Where are you going?" Draco sneered irritably.

"Anywhere but here. I felt sorry about your break up at first, Draco, but now you're just acting like a jerk," Blaise told him and left.

Draco watched him go, his jaw locked.

"Whatever," he muttered to himself, "who needs him."


	29. Chapter 29

"I got it!" Draco exclaimed, jumping up suddenly from his seated position beneath the tree. Startled birds scattered as did the startled first years. Draco looked proudly at the gadget lying in his palm and waited for it to work its magic. He waited... and waited... still waiting...

"What the bloody he-" Before he could finish his sentence, the small machine lit up and began to emit high pitched whirling noises. Draco fumbled with it, so surprised by the sudden change that he almost dropped it. He managed to keep a hold on it though and waited, unsure of what to do next.

As a test, Draco pointed the gadget at the next person who walked by. This person coincidently happened to be none other than Hermione Granger. The little remote-like object began to emit colourful images of flames and other hateful symbols. He took this as a sign that the wizard machine worked and with a small smirk of satisfaction, he headed up to the castle to find Harry or Luna.

The first person Draco ran into upon entering the castle was Blaise.

"Guess what, I figured it out," Draco told him, happy and yet a little nervous about figuring out where his true feeling lay.

"Great. Now you can go choose between two girls once and for all," Blaise said flatly.

"...What's wrong with you?" Draco asked sensing a note of frustration in his friends voice.

"Nothing Draco," Blaise sighed and walked past him.

Draco watched him leave, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Was it something he did? Draco decided that it was best to leave the matter be for the moment and instead continue on the search for Luna or Harry.

Speak of the devil and he arrives; Harry Potter came his way almost as soon as the thought ran through his mind. He was, of course, accompanied by his stupid sidekick, Weasly.

"Potter," Draco spat, trying desperately to ignore the gentle flip flop in the pit of his stomach. He raised the device behind his back so that Harry wouldn't see it.

Harry ignored him and Ron sent him a glare as they walked by. Images began popping from the device that were so obvious that Draco gave up on his attempt at secrecy and brought the wizard object out from behind his back so he could decipher the images more clearly.

From the device, pictures of hearts popped on after the other. A small bottle of what looked like wine but with a broken heart on the label was being poured into a glass. Surrounding this image were multiple hearts, some broken, some not. Draco narrowed his eyes, wondering desperately what the images meant. He quickly pulled a quill and parchment paper from his bag and scribbled a messy drawing of the images before they disappeared.

Draco had no idea what to make of it. As far as he could tell, this machine was trying to tell him that he was in love with Harry Potter but was... undecided? Maybe the wine bottle meant that he was going to become an alcoholic because of heartbreak... Draco stopped his mind from wandering, took a deep breath and told himself to calm down and not to let his imagination run wild.

Instead of standing there scaring himself half to death with possible predictions of a horrible future, Draco decided to try his luck at finding Luna. He figured she was probably either at the Great Hall or somewhere near the Ravenclaw common room so he headed in that direction.

Luna and Ashley, after stuffing their faces in chocolate ice cream and talking about their relationship problems, had decided to take a walk around the grounds. While they were out walking, Luna had noticed Draco getting very excited about some gadget thing that he was holding and let her curiosity get the better of her.

Ashley and Luna had followed him from the tree by the lake into the castle and watched quietly from behind a corner as Draco watched hearts emerge from his machine after pointing it at Harry. Luna felt her heart start to break all over again and tried to pull herself together. Maybe... maybe Draco wasn't gay... maybe he just had brotherly feelings towards Harry...? Oh, who was she kidding? Even the machine could see that Draco loved Harry... more than he'd ever loved her.

"Luna?"

And to make things worse, here she was, caught eavesdropping. That's just peachy.

"Hi Draco," Luna's attempt at acting nonchalant failed and she found her voice breaking in the middle of her sentence.

"You...You saw that didn't you?" Draco asked her, his face falling.

All she could do was nod.

"It... it doesn't mean anything! It could be wrong..."

Luna shrugged. She didn't really believe it. Normally, she believed in everything but right now... right now she was crushed.

"Urm... let me just leave you two alone..." Ashley announced awkwardly, backing away from the dysfunctional couple.

Draco pointed the remote at her but hesitated, "...If you have any objections to this, tell me please."

"I think that if you really loved me, you wouldn't need a machine to help you figure that out," Luna told him, looking him in the eye, "Do you love me, Draco?"

Without any hesitation, Draco nodded, "So much."

Luna felt her eyes water and blinked rapidly, "Then why is it taking you so long to choose between me and Harry?"

"I don't know..." Draco confessed, "It should be simple... I know I love you, and I'm certain that I never loved Harry before now but..."

"But what?"

"But after that meeting with Pansy a week or two ago... I've been having second thoughts about everything and it's just so confusing! You wouldn't believe how much I wish it could just go back to the way it was before," Draco told her, seeing the walls break down in those beautiful blue eyes of hers.

"Oh Draco, it can go back to that, we just need to find out where these new feelings are coming from," Luna decided before something struck her, "wait a second... did you say Pansy?"

Draco nodded.

"As in, you're crazy, psychopath ex-girlfriend? That Pansy?"

Draco nodded again.

"...Did you ever once think that she might have anything to do with this? I mean, you did start feeling like this after a meeting with her. What did you two do in that meeting?" Luna asked, the pieces falling together.

"We just had a drink and talked a little," Draco shrugged before realization came to his eyes, "The images..." he whispered, reaching for the parchment paper.

He gestured at the wine bottle that the device had showed, "Do you think that means anything? You're smarter at these types of things than I am..."

Luna looked at it for a minute before nodding, "I think it represents... a love potion."

"So... you think that a love potion is the reason I've been having feelings for Harry?" Draco asked, hoping against hope that it was.

Luna nodded, "almost certain," She smiled. Her boyfriend wasn't gay; she was so happy that it hurt.


	30. Chapter 30

"Pansy Parkinson."

Pansy's eyes widened, fear mingling with guilt clear in her eyes, 'W-What?"

She looked around frightened. Luna had her backed up against a wall and Draco was standing next to her, blocking her only way of escape.

"You know what you did."

Pansy didn't think she'd ever seen Luna madder than she was now, "I-I don't know what you're talking about..."

Draco stepped in, "Oh but you do, Pansy. You slipped me a love potion."

Pansy's eyes widened even more, "How do you know about that?"

"I was there. You gave me a drink and an hour latter I'm having feelings for..." He didn't finish his sentence.

"Harry Potter," Pansy smirked, "funny how it worked out that way... it's almost ironic."

Draco flushed and reached for his wand but Luna put a hand to his to stop him.

Luna then turned to Pansy, "You cold hearted selfish miserable cockroach! You wanted Draco to love you so much that you'd rather he be miserable and torn than love anyone else!"

Draco stared in awe at Luna. He had never seen her like this before... He recognized her words from somewhere and realized with a start that Hermione Granger had uttered that same insult to him in the third year. The insult about the cockroach obviously, not about him loving anyone. He didn't think that last part would ever happen. How things had changed.

Pansy began to stutter, "...I-I um... I..."

"Where's the antidote?" Luna snapped.

"There is no antidote..." Pansy admitted, "I-I didn't think it would go wrong..."

"Oh of course, you only tried to completely change Draco's feelings towards you with a potion, how could that go wrong?" Luna questioned sarcastically.

"Wait... so there's no antidote?" Draco asked, a hint of panic in his voice, "I'm going to feel like this forever?"

"No... Not forever. It should only last for another week or two..." Pansy told him.

"A week...?" Luna asked desperately. She knew that this love potion mess was tearing Draco apart and she hated seeing him like this. She would do anything to rid his heart of the evil works of the love potion.

"A week...?" Draco repeated meekly.

"Yes, a week. Now let me go."

Luna refused to move. "There has to be some way..."

Pansy laughed, "Oh look who it is! What a coincidence."

Luna looked up and groaned. Walking toward them was none other than Harry Potter. Of course.

"Hullo Luna," He greeted, walking towards the group, "Malfoy," he nodded. He was trying to be nice to Malfoy since Luna and he were dating but he still wasn't going to call him by his first name.

Draco felt his stomach flip-flop and tried desperately to ignore it. He didn't trust himself to talk so just nodded back.

"And of course Pansy doesn't get a hello..." Pansy muttered.

They ignored her.

"Harry... I don't think now is a very good time..." Luna said warily, seeing the look that had crossed onto Draco's face when Harry had greeted him.

"Why not? Is this Slytherin scum giving you trouble Luna?"

"No..." Luna started but then had an idea, "Actually yes. Pansy decided to slip Draco a love potion."

Draco's eyes snapped to her, hurt and betrayal clear in his icy blue eyes.

"...What?" Harry asked.

"She wanted him to be in love with her but instead he fell in love with someone else... involuntarily of course."

"Who?"

Luna looked at him then at Draco and said, "Me."

All heads snapped to her.

Harry gave Pansy a murderous look, "I'm so sorry Luna..."

"It's okay. It really is Harry. I think we've fallen in love while under the influence of the love potion but I can't be sure until the love potion is gone... Can you help us?"

"He doesn't need to help Luna..." Draco started.

"Yes he does," Luna told him, "We need his help."

Harry nodded, "Okay. I'll go ask Hermione if she knows anything that will help; you two are welcome to come."

"Okay," Draco quickly said then cursed himself. Why was the opportunity to spend time with Harry too hard to resist? He sighed.

"We'll fix this Luna, I promise," Harry told her.

While they were talking Pansy snuck off, content to never use a love potion for the rest of her life. It caused too many problems.

The three went to the library to find Hermione. Luna took Draco's hand encouragingly and although her touch brought sparks like it had always had, he couldn't take his eyes off of Harry. Damn Pansy.


	31. Chapter 31

"Love potions aren't allowed in Hogwarts," Hermione informed them, "Pansy could get in serious trouble if anyone found out."

"They do have cures though... don't they?" Draco asked her anxiously. He gritted his teeth together, trying not to think about the fact that he was going to the queen Mudblood herself for help.

"Depends on the potion," Hermione answered, her nose stuck in a book as usual.

Luna looked thoughtful for a moment then spoke up, "Well then don't you need to know what type of love potion Pansy used on him?"

"That would be helpful, yes."

"I'll go ask her," Harry offered.

"She won't tell you," Draco scoffed.

"She will if there's a wand pointed at her throat..."

"You both have stupid ideas," Hermione told them, "First off, Malfoy are you suggesting we give up? And secondly, we're not stooping to their level Harry."

"Why don't we just get the box?" Luna asked.

The three turned to look at her.

"The box?" Harry questioned.

"Yes. The box that the love potion came in," Luna nodded.

Hermione stared at her, "...That's not a bad idea..." She mumbled, "Well, um, how would we get it?"

"Well, Draco can get us into the Slytherin common room and I could go into the girls dorm to look for it. Pansy probably didn't think to do anything more with it than throw it in her trash can so it's probably still there."

Hermione's mouth fell open, "That's actually a good plan..." _How did Loony Lovegood come up with a plan before you?_ She wondered but shook the mean thought away.

Draco smiled at his girlfriend, "Alright then, let's do it!"

"Wait! We need a plan," Hermione exclaimed.

"We have one, Luna just came up with it," Harry shrugged.

"We can't just barge into Pansy's room and search through her garbage! Someone will notice!"

"Harry can distract them," Luna told her.

Hermione frowned, "...Well... what do I do?"

"You have to look up the antidote. Okay, let's go!"

With that the three left the room, leaving Hermione standing alone in the library.

"Why don't I get to do any of the fun stuff?" Hermione muttered to herself as she plopped back into her chair to begin looking up cures again.

"Serpant Sempra," Draco said the password and the door to the Slytherin common room swung open.

Luna entered first, looking around happily. Harry followed and soon after was Draco who was trying with everything he had not to stare at Harry's butt as he walked.

"So, ready you two?" Luna chirped.

They nodded and the three split up. Luna headed to the girls dorm, Harry began to set up his 'distraction' and Draco sat on the couch near the fire... supervising...

Luna walked into Pansy's dorm to find a group of girls talking and giggling. The group stopped as soon as she stepped foot into the room and stared at her. Luna cleared her throat uncertainly and said;

"Someone got the Slytherin common room password and is giving it out to everyone... just thought I'd let you know. You should see what they're doing to your common room!"

The girls jumped up and bolted to the common room, not wanting to miss any action. Luna legged behind and once all of the girls were gone, she closed the door and headed to Pansy's bed. She could tell which bed was Pansy's because it had a picture of Draco hanging above it. Luna rolled her eyes. She looked in the trash can next to Pansy's bed... no box. Desperately, Luna began opening drawers and looking under beds.

"Where is it..?" She muttered under her breath.

"Where's what?"

Luna froze. She turned around slowly.

"What are you doing in here?" Pansy asked.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

"What are you doing in here?" Pansy asked again.

Luna racked her brain for a reasonable excuse that would explain why she was crouched in Pansy's dorm, pawing through her trash like some animalistic caveman.

The silence grew as Luna tried everything to clear her mind of the cobwebs that seemed to have taken residence there. Pansy towered over her, her arms crossed, tapping one foot impatiently as she awaited Luna's response.

BOOM!  
>The two jumped; the silence of the room being interrupted by what sounded like a post apocalyptic explosion.<p>

"What the bloody hell was that?" Pansy screamed all thoughts of Luna erased as she sprinted towards the common room where the sound had erupted.

Luna sighed in relief. She swore that after this was over, she was going to do anything Harry wanted for distracting Pansy. She was ready to give up and tell the boys that she was wrong; that Pansy _had_ thrown out the box after all when something caught her eye. In the corner of her line of vision, she caught sight of a small pink heart and curly cursive writing. She dug through the remaining trash and pulled out the small square instruction manual. It was the length of her index finger in width and height and she could tell that it was only a few pages long at first glance but this was it. This was the answer to their problems. In this small book lay not only the name of the potion, Luna noticed her heart speeding up in anxiety, but also the name of the counter-potion.

Luna jumped to her feet; the instruction manual clenched tightly in her hand and rushed down to the common room to see what mess Harry had created that had distracted all of the Slytherins for that long. When she reached the common room, her breath caught and she stopped where she was.

Harry and Draco were standing in the center of a large group of Slytherins. Draco's fine, always slicked back hair was standing straight on end as if he had recently been playing with lightning. Harry's was worse. If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn that Harry had stolen the afro sized poof of hair from some poor kid from the seventies. What tied the whole spectacle together was the pink and green goo that covered both boys from head to toe. Harry was looking around the common room dazedly as if he wasn't quite sure what had happened but it was Draco's utterly disgusted scowl that sent Luna into a fit of hysterical giggles.

Instantly, the two boy's eyes snapped to her. She clutched her stomach, bending over as silent laughs racked her body. Glancing again at the dysfunctional couple only made her laugh harder and she felt herself slide to the ground, her head still bowed as giggle after giggle coming from her mouth until she was finding it hard to breath.

Harry gave her a little smirk and Draco just scowled more causing her to burst into another round of laughter. Luna was aware that she looked like a complete idiot, laying on the ground laughing like her life depended on it. Honestly, it wasn't even _that_ funny but there hadn't been enough excuses to laugh in the past few weeks and now all of the giggles that she had been holding back for months burst through.

Soon she saw Harry give a little chuckle and Draco's scowl turned upwards into a small smile. Before she knew it, the two boys were laughing along with her although not quite as loud. Whispers rippled through the crowd of confused Slytherins as they observed the three, seemingly insane, students.

Luna managed to catch her breath as some of the students got bored and began to disperse. Breathing heavily, she made her way over to Harry and Draco. With another small giggle, she extended a hand for both of them as they were also sitting on the floor by now. The two graciously accepted and once all three were on their feet, goofy grins still spread across their faces, they headed to the library to fetch Hermione.

"Oh for God's sake..." Hermione muttered as she watched the three approach. Harry and Draco were splattered with some sort of gooey pink and green substance and they looked as if they had both been electrocuted but the large smiles plastered on their faces made them look as if they had just been told that NEWTS were going to be cancelled this year.

"What in the name of Merlin happened to you two?" She questioned them, sending an apologetic look over to Madame Pince who was shooting her a very stern 'be quiet' look.

"Harry decided that the only way to distract the Slytherins was to use a bloody Weasley's Wizard Wheezes product," Draco attempted a scowl but it soon turned into another laugh.

"Hey, I thought it was a good idea..." Harry grinned, "But I didn't expect the Gooey Kablooey to Kablooey all over me and Malfoy."

This sent Luna into another small fit of laughter which was quickly silenced by Madame Pince.

"...Did you get the box?" Hermione asked warily. To her, it seemed as if the whole lot of them had suddenly gone mad.

"We did better," Luna told her with a smile, "We got the cure."


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

"Okay, look at Harry."

Draco and Luna were hiding behind a pillar in one of the wide hallways of Hogwarts testing if the cure really worked. Draco glanced at Harry.

"What do you see?"

"I see the arrogant, famous, stupid Harry Potter," he told her grinning from ear to ear.

Luna beamed at him, "Good!"

"So it worked then?"

"You tell me. Do you feel any different?" Luna asked taking his hand in her own.

"I feel like I did before Pansy slipped me that love potion," Draco smiled.

Luna sighed in relief, "then this whole mess is finally over with."

"That is the best thing I've heard all month," Draco told her sliding down against the pillar into a sitting position.

Luna sat beside him, her hand still in his and leaned her head against his shoulder tiredly.

"Does this mean we can finally relax and just be happy?" Luna asked dreamily.

"I hope so," Draco responded with a slight grin on his face as he regarded Luna staring off into space.

"...Draco?"

Draco looked up; the deep voice that had said his name definitely did not belong to Luna. Blaise was standing above the two somewhat shyly.

"Oh, hello Blaise," Draco greeted him uncomfortably aware that the last time he'd talked to his best friend, he had been yelling at him for absolutely no reason.

"...Can we talk?" He asked his eyes lingering on Luna for a moment before turning back to Draco.

Draco nodded and stood up, "Be right back," He murmured to Luna and followed Blaise.

Blaise led Draco to an empty classroom down the hall from where they had been a moment before and sat on one of the desks.

"Listen Blaise..." Draco started awkwardly.

"It's okay. You were mad, I get that," Blaise told him, guessing what Draco was going to say. Draco sighed in relief; he had never been good at apologies.

"Here's my question... " Blaise said slowly, "You always tell me if you're having girl trouble... so why wouldn't you tell me who that girl was that you had feelings for?"

Draco looked at him surprised, "Oh... I didn't tell you yet?"

Blaise shook his head, his eyebrows knitted together.

"Pansy slipped me a love potion and made me fall in love with," he shuddered, "Harry Potter."

"Well why didn't you tell me in the first place?"

"Because when you asked I didn't know it was a love potion... I thought that I might be having actual feelings for another male..."

"So?"

_Well... I didn't want to get your hopes up..._ Draco thought but didn't say. That would be mean and although he could be plenty mean to other people, he hated hurting his only true friend.

"I-uh... I just... I don't know," Draco told him not looking him in the eye.

Blaise looked at him for a few moments and Draco finally looked into his eyes. He saw something flash in Blaises eyes and the next thing he knew, Blaise's lips were pressed against his own. Unsure of what to do, Draco let instinct take over and tried to pretend he was kissing Luna as to not hurt his friend's feelings by pulling away right away. Draco felt Blaises tongue glide across his lower lip and with a small squeak, pulled away. As soon as Blaise felt Draco try to get out of the kiss, he backed off, averting his eyes.

"I'm sorry Draco... I couldn't help myself..." He mumbled, looking at the ground.

Draco just looked at him blinking.

"I'm sorry," Blaise said again before hurriedly leaving the room.

Draco sat there, wondering what the heck just happened.

Luna waited patiently for Blaise and Draco to finish their talk. When she saw Blaise burst out of the room, his eyes a little more watery than usual, she decided to go see what happened. She stood up and went into the classroom, sitting herself next to Draco.

"What happened?" Luna asked gently, taking his hand.

"Blaise... kissed me," Draco said in shock.

Luna stared at him for a moment, hoping he was joking but when she saw that he wasn't about to crack a smile and tell her that he was joking, she stood up warily and started walking to the door.

"Where are you going?" Draco asked, his eyes snapping to hers.

Luna froze in her spot near the doorframe, not facing him, "you need to set your priorities, Draco. First you're crushing on Harry and now you're kissing Blaise? If you're gay then just tell me for Merlin's sake!"

Draco sat there gaping at her, "You're kidding right?"

"This isn't a joke Draco!" Luna exclaimed whirling around to face the blonde, "I knew when we started this relationship there would be things to deal with, but I'm tired of this! Look me in the eyes and tell me right now; do you want to end this relationship?"

"Of course not," Draco said blatantly, looking deep into her beautiful blue eyes.

Luna flopped down onto a chair across from him with a sigh, "Then why did you kiss Blaise?"

"I didn't kiss him! He kissed me!"

"Oh don't give me that, you obviously kissed him back or you wouldn't look so guilty right now..."

Draco spluttered, a blush rising to his pale cheeks, "I-I had to kiss him back a little bit or he would get offended... I didn't like it though!"

Luna looked at him, a tired expression etched into her pretty features, "Alright Draco. You have one more chance. Now go find Blaise and tell him that you're sorry for leading him on or whatever it is that you did."

Draco nodded and stood. Luna looked like she wanted to be left alone and he really should apologise to Blaise so he left the room without another word.

Luna sat in that chair for quite a while after Draco left. She had a lot of thinking to do. All of these problems had done a deal to her attitude and really, her personality in general. She was going from a happy-go-lucky, no-care-in-the-world type of girl to one who just sulked and tried way too hard to fix others problems. Luna realized what she had to do if she ever wanted to become herself again but she didn't like it, not one bit.

Another thought flitted through her head rather abruptly and Luna thought on it for a moment. Ashley. Ashley had taken a liking to Blaise since her first day at Hogwarts and Luna realized that finding out the truth would crush her. Now she had a decision to make... tell Ashley now, or let her find out for herself. With a small sigh, Luna headed to the Ravenclaw common room, knowing very well that once again she had a friend who needed helping.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

"Hey."

"Hey," Blaise mumbled softly, as Draco sat down beside him.

The two sat in an awkward silence for a few moments before Draco finally spoke up, "I'm sorry..."

Blaise gave a bitter laugh, no trace of amusement in his tone, "What are _you _sorry for? Not being gay?"

Draco was a bit taken aback by the question. That wasn't quite the reaction he had expected, "...I-uh...I don't know, for leading you on I guess?"

"You didn't lead me on, you told me you fancied girls the moment I told you about my stupid crush," Blaise shrugged, trying to act as if finally accepting defeat wasn't killing him.

Draco wasn't sure what to say, so he didn't say anything. Instead, he sat next to his friend silently, examining his hands.

After a few minutes, Blaise finally said quietly, "Please don't let anything change between us..."

Draco shook his head, "Of course I won't."

Blaise nodded, resolve hardening in his eyes and stood up, "I really am sorry if I made you uncomfortable back there..."

Draco stood as well, "Don't worry 'bout it," he smiled.

Blaise smiled back.

Luna's jaw dropped when she stumbled upon Ashley in the common room. Not because she was surprised to find her there... but because she wasn't _alone. _Ashley had her head laid lazily in the lap of a one, Donec Vruce. With a small smile on her face, Luna left the Ravenclaw common room, all worry about Blaise breaking Ashley's heart, gone.

_A few weeks later_

Christmas break was fast approaching and all of the students felt a buzz in the air as the winter holidays came closer and closer. Luna, for one, was going to spend her time over the break at home trying to get back to her old self. She was especially looking forward to introducing her father to her boyfriend.

Draco smiled happily at her, their hands gently interlace as the two watched Ashley, Donec, Blaise and Calvin (Blaise's new boyfriend) pelt each other with snowballs. Laughter filled the air and as Luna stuck out her tongue to catch a lazily floating snowflake, she realized that life just didn't get any better than this.

The end.


End file.
